Shadows of Love
by A-LionGleek
Summary: Valentine's Day will soon be upon Jump City, and the Titans are ready to celebrate. Even Raven has managed to find someone to celebrate with just in time for the Holiday. Beast Boy, however, has some words of his own to say about Raven's choice, and they're not nice. Question is . . . why? And is that the only thing the Titans have to worry about?
1. Prologue

**Alright everybody! At this time, I give you Shadows of Love, the next epic episode of the A-LionGleek Teen Titans season 6! Here's to hoping you're ready for yet more Teen Titan-ic awesomeness! I'll admit, it is rather late/early for some tiny bit of the subject matter, but nonetheless, here's to hoping you enjoy it nonetheless!**

 **A/N: But first, let me start right away on this story in reminding you that I do not own Teen Titans or anything else DC related. The only thing I remotely qualify as owning is the OC villain that makes his 'debut' (so to speak) in the prologue. And with that out of the way, I now proudly present the prologue for my new Teen Titans story, Shadows of Love!**

 **Prologue:**

It was a very beautiful day in Jump City. Quite appropriately so in fact, for it was now February 10, 2018. Valentine's Day would be occurring the very next week. And the people of Jump City knew it to. In fact, quite the majority of the citizens were either hard at work planning things out, or fighting with all their willpower not to burst from the anticipation that came from already being fully prepared and having to wait until the day finally arrived. And of course, not only were all the couples already present within the city very strongly looking forward to the arrival of the much loved holiday, but quite a respectable number of brand new ones were now starting to pop up in the advent of the atmosphere that was even now rapidly forming in the air in anticipation for the holiday.

Even the environment within the city itself seemed to be well aware of the upcoming holiday. Just about every major building or similarly important location was in some way decorated appropriately, some with a considerably more over the top flare than others. Multiple flowers and other plants had begun to sprout into bloom to herald the coming spring. Various shops had taken stock of and put on sale quite large numbers of appropriately themed cards as well as candies and similar gifts. Even the animals of the city seemed to be somewhat feeling the effect of the atmosphere, from pets, to wild free roaming critters, to even the creatures on display at the zoo.

One location in particular located somewhat within the center of the city seemed particularly well aware of and prepared for the holiday to come. And it had more than enough of the appropriate atmosphere to prove it. The location in question was Youngberg Café, an admittedly rather relatively newly designed establishment, but a popular one nonetheless in the current time and age. In fact, since its opening day, there had rarely ever been a day in which there hadn't been guests present within the café to give the staff a good day's work. And today was no exception. Both the inside and the immediate outside were jam packed with patrons. And even though the actual holiday that the place was decorated in preparation for was still several days away, many of them already seemed in the mood to celebrate.

In fact, there was one particular young adult couple on the inside of the café sitting at a table literally right by the main front window that was currently in the midst of a quite passionate and intimate display of love. Quite honestly, the exact nature of the way they were currently kissing could easily be seen as considerably more overly . . . romantic . . . then should have likely been considered decent, let alone legal, in such a public location as the café they were at. But even so, no one else present in the café, including the faculty, seemed to even bother to care. Indeed, quite a Valentine's Day friendly picture was present and coming to life within Jump City, but especially within the interior and outer patio of Youngberg Café.

. . . . .

However, there was one element in particular that most certainly did not match up with the otherwise exact image of the perfect Valentine's Day atmosphere present at Youngberg Café. The element in question was what appeared to be a humanoid saber-toothed goat dressed in nothing but a chainmail chiton leaning up against the main front window of the café from the outside, exactly positioned so that the one particularly amorous couple was directly in front of it on the opposite side. As if to further emphasize how incongruently it fit with the overall environment, it looked especially sinister. It was almost entirely from head to hoof in coarse black fur, with a few white stripes here and there. It also had very craggy looking hoof-like feet. Its hands, however, were almost exactly like those of a human; aside from the fact that they were furry and had unnervingly sharp and long claws in the place of fingernails.

The creature's face hardly looked any less eerie. For starters, it was saber-toothed. And the two iconic saber-teeth poking from the front of its jaws weren't the only sharp teeth it had either. In fact, every single one of its teeth was a dangerously pointy fang. It also had two ominously sharp curved stereotypical goat-like horns on the very top of its head between its pointy elf-like ears. And finally, it had two almost human-like yellow eyes that currently had a mad, maniacal, and almost hungry look inside them as it gazed intently at the overly romantic couple in front of it, with its wickedly clawed furry hands up against the window as well.

But what really caused the whole thing to go from creepy to downright bizarre was what appeared to be mass clouds of what appeared to be a golden yellow dust emanating from the amorous couple and phasing right _through_ the window straight towards the mysterious goat creature's face. In fact, not only was the 'dust' going towards the creature's face, but the creature was actually _inhaling_ the stuff through a mixture of opening its mouth wide open and using its nostrils. And with each inhalation, whether through open mouth or nostrils, the creature would exhale in a clearly pleased tone and even lick its lips hungrily as if appreciating some sort of delicious taste. And even more bizarrely, for some impossible reason, absolutely _no one_ seemed to even notice it was there.

For another few minutes, the bizarre creature continued to inhale the golden dust it was causing to be emitted from the amorous couple in front of it, sighing and chuckling with an increasingly fast and maniacal pace and tone as it continued to devour more and more of it. "More, more, more," the creature snarled delightfully in a slightly raspy and gravelly masculine voice as he continued to apparently feed upon the golden dust. He took an extra deep breath, inhaling a particularly massive portion of the dust into its nostrils in the process. He unleashed a particularly heavy sigh of delight at the taste. "Oh yes," he then whispered to himself in a quite happy manner. "So delicious, so scrumptious, so tasty, and it's all mine right here in front of me."

The creature opened his mouth wide, inhaled in yet another massive dose of the golden dust, snapped his jaws closed, swallowed, and opened his mouth in yet another sigh of delight, and then licked its chops once more. "Oh," he sighed happily. "What a delightful feast." He chuckled in pleasure. "This is so easy," the creature said to himself in a whisper. "Like taking candy from a baby." He inhaled some more of the dust through his nostrils, and let off yet another delighted sigh. "And oh how sweet, tasty, and extra, extra, _extra_ sugary that candy is." The creature chuckled once more, and licked his lips yet again. "And the best part is, I still haven't even finished the main course."

The creature inhaled yet another hefty dosage of the golden dust through opening his mouth. "But it won't be too much longer now," he whispered to himself. "Not at all. Sooner or later, I will finally finish the main course, and then . . . my favorite part . . .," a maniacal, and this time considerably more ominous and malicious looking grin, came on his face. "Dessert." The beast then proceeded to absorb yet another dosage of the dust through his nostrils, clearly feeling on top of the world and anticipating the moment when the time came for 'dessert'.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

The abrupt shout not only jolted the goat-like creature out of his focus on his 'meal', but it also attracted the attention of the couple it had directing its full attention towards. Within seconds after the couple turned their heads towards the window they'd been sitting by, the girl's green eyes widened in shock before she then leaped backwards from her seat in horror, her blonde hair going flying, and a shriek emanating from her mouth. "WHAT IS THAT THING?!" she screamed, clearly having finally managed to catch sight of the humanoid saber-toothed goat that had up till now miraculously avoided getting seen at all. Her black haired gray eyed boyfriend hardly reacted any better to his suddenly catching sight of the creature, and he slipped and fell flat on his backside in his efforts to back away from the window. Everyone else inside the café likewise acted quite stunned and horrified upon finally catching sight of the horrific monster that had been right there at the window the entire time.

It didn't take long at all for the creature's shock at the unexpected interruption to turn to anger at the sight of all the terrified people inside the café who'd now been alerted to his presence. Growling and slavering with rage, he turned his head to look behind him, and saw that every person on the outside patio of the café were reacting in the exact same manner as those on the inside. All of the people, that is, except for five individuals standing right behind him that the creature knew, for a _fact_ , had not been there when he had arrived at the café and begun his 'feast'. The five individuals in question, were instantly recognizable, and his eyes narrowed in a mixture of fury and mild annoyance at the sight of them.

Robin narrowed his own mask covered eyes back at the creature. "You heard me," he practically spat out at the creature. "Whatever it is you're doing, stop it this instant."

The creature mentally cursed. Admittedly, he was quite new in town, but even he had managed to hear enough about the local heroes of Jump City to know that it was wise to be wary of them if you were one with reasonable grounds to be worried about them being on your case. And just the fact that they'd been able to even see him at this moment was definitely a good sign of them being a credible threat. To elaborate, another ability that the creature had aside from his ability to 'summon' and devour the golden dust he had been causing to emit from the amorous couple earlier was to mentally cast a glamour that would cause him to seem absolutely invisible all relatively weaker minded people in the area. This very glamour aura was what had allowed him to be able to be present in the café and feast upon the golden dust from the couple for so long without being noticed till now, and had proven equally useful in multiple past situations before now. But unfortunately, stronger minded people, with the Teen Titans clearly having now revealed themselves to be an example, were not so susceptible to this trick, and in managing to sufficiently call the attention of the weaker minded people, they had also caused the glamour to dissipate entirely and allow the creature to be seen clear as day by all the people present.

The creature let out a low snarl. "Kids these days," he thought to itself irritably. He glared at the five teen heroes, his mouth now closed so that only his saber-teeth were visible. "Good grief," he groaned. "What is it with people your age this time and age? Can't a guy eat in piece anymore?"

"Depends on what you're eating scumbag," said Cyborg. He intertwined his robotic fingers, stretched them and his hands forward, and then said, "But if whatever it is you're eating has anything to do with the murders you appear to have been responsible for in Metropolis, Central City, Star City, and quite a few other cities before your arrival here in Jump City, then it's definitely a serious no-no to let you keep eating."

The creature's eyes narrowed. "Murders?" he asked in a half irritated and half curious tone of voice. "What makes you say that I've committed murders?"

"You've left quite a trail," said Robin. He pointed his right index finger at the creature, a hard eyed glare on his masked face. "And I'm not talking about footprints either. Rather, you've left a trail of bodies. All the people you've killed have been found in various locations, some of them even within their own homes, all dead, appearing to have been in the midst of some sort of romantic activity, and all seemingly without a mark. All of them, upon closer examination, have turned out to have died from a heart attack."

The creature raised his eyebrow. "Heart attack you say?" he asked. "Well if that's so, how can you know for sure it was murder? Heart attacks don't sound like the kind of thing that can be caused through murder."

"Under most circumstances, yes that's true." Robin folded his arms across his chest. "But every single one of the victims has been as healthy as a horse in the immediate days preceding their deaths, had zero existing heart problems, and all have been older than 21 but younger than 50. And that age range is hardly the kind of age where it would be perfectly natural to be wary of potentially suffering heart attacks."

"And not only that," said Cyborg. He gazed intently at the creature, a small grin of amusement coming on his face as he thought about what he was now about to say. "But one especially curious detail that all the scenes have had in common is that there are goat hairs within the area." His grin faded. "Though admittedly, that detail's considerably less funny now that we know where the hairs came from."

The creature growled, now showing the rest of his fangs. "Well I'll certainly admit that you've done your homework," he growled. He then spread his arms out to his sides. "But even so, how can you know for certain that it was me? Sure, the sight of me alone can be pretty scary to some, but certainly not necessarily enough to trigger a heart attack in people as healthy as the ones you seem to believe I'm responsible for killing. Heck, I'm almost certain that some of those people, plus multiple others, would probably laugh at the sight of me if they had the mental strength to do so."

"That's where your powers come in," said Raven. She folded her arms across her chest, her purple eyes narrowed, cold, and glaring from underneath the raised hood of her cloak. "From what we heard you saying while in the midst of your little feast and what we saw of that dust you were eating, you appear to have the power that we in the super community refer to as 'emotional vampirism', in other words, the ability to detect, extract, and eat the 'energy' if you will of emotions."

The sorceress nodded her head, then glared back at the creature, who now quite clearly seemed somewhat surprised that she knew the nature of his power and feeding methods. "As you appear to be aware from the way your face looks, beings with this power are quite rare. In fact, you're only the second emotional vampire we've ever encountered. And that being said, both you and the very first one we encountered last year feed on love. However, the first one we encountered, who liked to call herself Mother Mae-Eye, fed upon the kind of love that children feel for their parents, whereas you seem to prefer feeding upon romantic love. Also, Mother Mae-Eye used spells to enchant her victims into thinking that she was their mother and unwittingly being forced into feeling the kind of love towards her that she liked to feed upon, whereas you feed upon already existing naturally occurring love."

Raven pointed at the couple that the creature had been earlier 'feasting' upon. "And finally, Mother Mae-Eye's end plot was to cook us in a pie and eat us, thus both devouring us and all our remaining 'love'. You, however, presumably upon reaching the moment in which you have 'dessert', proceed to extract such a large portion of love from your victims that the resulting stress on their hearts causes them to suffer a lethal heart attack so strong that it takes virtually seconds for them to die. And by the time anyone else in the area would have managed to notice that couple you were feasting upon suddenly dead in their chairs, you presumably would have been already long gone in search of either your next victim or your ticket out of Jump City. Quite frankly though, my guess is you'd have gone searching for new victims considering how this couple appears to have been your first chosen victims here in Jump City."

All the civilians found their eyes widening and gaped in horror at the creature as they realized what had been happening under their very noses without even realizing it. The other four Titans seemed impressed with Raven's description and analyzation of the creature's abilities. Even the creature himself gaped at Raven in what looked like a mixture of shock and grudging respect. Then he leaned his head forward, his eyes narrowing venomously, and he turned his entire body around to face the Titans. "Clever, I'll give you that." He directed his eyes left and right without moving his head as if trying to determine an escape route, then stared back at the Titans.

"And that being said, it seems there's no point now in any more fruitless denial from me since you appear to have figured it all out." He lifted his arms up, claws extended into the air. "You're correct Titans. I am the one who killed those people. And yes, if it hadn't been for your untimely interruption, those two lovebirds behind me would have suffered the same fate." The two 'lovebirds' in question gulped, and looked each other nervously in the eyes.

Then the creature grinned, and pointed his finger at the Titans. "And since you've clearly proven yourself worthy opponents by being able to successfully catch me in the act and stop me, you've earned the right to know a proper name to refer to me by." He leaned forward, his arms still stretched up into the air. "And as of today, I shall from here on out be referred to as . . ." he reared his head up so that he was facing the sky, his arms still raised, and loudly yelled "CAPRICARN! Eater of love! Killer of those blessed with Cupid's arrows! Romantivore supreme! The ultimate epitome of how powerful and savage a satyr could be if they existed and were carnivores!" Upon shouting all this, Capricorn snapped his head down to face the Titans once more, an absolutely maniacal look of glee on his face. "MAAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA!" he then laughed in a psychotic sounding tone that sounded just as much like a goat's bleating as it did like an actual psychotic human laugh.

The Titans, it has to be admitted, flinched somewhat to varying degrees upon hearing the sound of Capricarn's laugh. Robin, in particular, actually closed his eyes and had to shake his head side to side a couple times to clear his head of some very uncomfortable memories he had of an enemy from his past that had a very nightmarishly high tendency of emitting an especially disturbing evil laugh that had now been triggered by the sound of the maniacal caprine laughter he was now hearing.

Then Beast Boy shook his head rigorously to clear his head, snarled viciously at Capricarn, and pointed his finger at the villain before yelling, "Enough with this! You may have made it this far in your career, and you certainly have a good laugh to add to your scare factor, but it ends now!"

"Your heartless murders end today," Starfire said in agreement, balling her fists and causing star bolts to appear around them. The other Titans likewise took on battle-ready positions.

"And you're going to jail," Robin growled, his masked eyes narrowing in determination.

Capricorn smirked, clearly not at all afraid, and he then said. "Oh go ahead and try Titans. Go ahead and try. But the thing is . . ." he abruptly pointed upwards towards the sky behind them. "Ooh, look! Bald eagle!"

Embarrassingly, all the people on the outside patio of the café, the Titans included, fell for it, and they turned their heads to look in the direction Capricarn had pointed, only to find absolutely no birds at all, let alone a bald eagle, present in the sky. The Titans mentally grumbled irritably, and snapped their heads back to where Capricarn had been standing . . . and he was gone!

The Titans had just enough time for their eyes to narrow irritably, and to grit their teeth in anger before they heard the sound of Capricarn's distinctive bleating laugh coming from their left. They turned their heads in time to see the saber-toothed satyr-like villain eagerly prancing away down the street, sending a mocking wave their way. "You gotta catch me first suckers! BAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA!"

Robin growled, his masked eyes clearly showing just how angry he now was. "Titans move!" the Boy Wonder yelled. And just like that, the Titans lunged off in pursuit of Capricarn, not at all keen on letting the satyr-themed miscreant and confirmed wanted serial killer get away.

 **And just like that, the story begins! And boy are we off to a** ** _bleating_** **start! (Heh, heh) Yeah, I'll admit, this is pretty short. But don't worry, with the chapters to come, this story will still be plenty worth your while! ^_^ And that being said, here's to hoping you read, enjoy, and review! And just like with the last few chapters of my previous story, it is MANDATORY that I receive** ** _at least_** **one review for this prologue before I complete the official first chapter to come for this story after the prologue. If that little request isn't fulfilled, then this story (and effectively the entire rest of the season) shall end before it can even begin. You want that to happen? I certainly hope not! So somebody had best leave a review! Because boy am I already having fun! ^_^**

 **Coming up next: The chase is on!**


	2. Hot Pursuit

**Sorry for the long wait everyone, but here you go! A new chapter! And in this long awaited new update, the chase is on as Capricarn proceeds to get the Titans to go on an epic chase through Jump City. Sound exciting? I certainly hope so! And that being said, please do read, enjoy, and review!**

 **A/N: But first, just to remind you all, I do not own Teen Titans or anything else DC based. Ok? Good. Now on with the story!**

 **Chapter 1:**

 **Hot Pursuit**

Mere seconds after the Titans lunged out from the outer patio of Youngberg Café in pursuit of Capricarn, they all didn't take long at all to put all their energy into the chase to come and prove that they meant business. Raven and Starfire promptly took to the skies and swooped around after the fleeing miscreant. Beast Boy lunged onto the street, turned into a cheetah, and dashed off after the satyr-like criminal with a snarl of challenge. Robin jumped astride a familiar red motorcycle, snapped on his custom red helmet, and gunned the pedals as he zipped off to follow his friends in pursuit of Capricarn. And finally, Cyborg briefly disappeared around the side of the block Youngberg Café was located at before zooming back into view at the driver's seat of his beloved T-Car. Thus the Titans pursued Capricarn, eager to catch him and put a stop to his murder spree feeding frenzy.

Capricarn turned his head to look behind him, and grinned at the sight of the five teens pursuing him. "Wouldn't be nearly as fun without a challenge," he thought to himself. Turning his head to face ahead once more, he bleated, and then started running even faster, his goat legs going into full gear. The Titans noticed this, and proceeded to get themselves sped up as well. Before long, all five of the teen heroes began to quite noticeably catch up to the fleeing Capricarn, with Cyborg in particular getting especially close to apprehending him.

Capricarn noticed this, and directed a glare towards the incoming car with Cyborg inside. "Ok, now this is _definitely_ getting too easy for them," he thought to himself. He leaped off to his right, landing on the bed of a pickup truck that turned out to be carrying barrels of oil. He picked up one of the barrels, bleating in challenge, and hurled it straight at the T-Car. The barrel crashed against the windshield and burst upon contact, completing covering the windshield in oil. Cyborg shrieked, and frantically activated the windshield wipers to no avail as he started rapidly swerving and spinning around in complete loss of control over the car. After a few seconds, the still horridly out of control T-Car ended up crashing right through the front window of a candy store, and was left stuck halfway through the window with the back half of the vehicle sticking out in midair and the tires uselessly rotating around. Meanwhile, inside the car, Cyborg found himself briefly gasping for air after the airbag finally deflated. Then he growled, practically punched the door to his left open, and jumped out of the car just in time to see the rest of the Titans zoom past the window the T-Car had gone through to continue their own pursuit after Capricarn.

As this happened, Robin was the next to start catching up to Capricarn. The miscreant chuckled gleefully. "Ooh," he thought to himself. "This oughta be even more fun!" He jumped up into the air, grabbed onto some overhanging electrical wires, and swung himself through the air. He landed on the roof of the front of a gasoline truck, reached through the open left window, and yanked the surprised driver right out of his seat before throwing him out the window and just as swiftly swinging himself into position on the driver's seat. At that point, he gunned down on the gas pedal with his hoof like feet, and caused the truck to start rapidly barreling towards a street intersection that he had originally been heading towards and that the Titans were still heading towards.

Minutes later, right as the truck was another minute or two away from entering the intersection, Capricarn leaped out the open driver's side window of the truck, kicking the door in question extra hard while in the midst of propelling himself into the air and causing the entire truck to tip over onto its side and start skidding dangerously fast into the intersection. And then, just as Robin was inches away from entering the intersection on the R-Cycle, he had just enough time for his masked eyes to widen at the sight of Capricarn hurtling through the air straight towards some nearby overhead power cables before the saber-toothed villain sliced the wires in two with his sharp claws. The two separate halves of all the severed cables landed right on the top of the tank as the truck fully entered the intersection, and it exploded in spectacular fashion, leaving an impressive wall of oil ignited flames within the intersection cutting off the Titans from Capricarn. The criminal in question landed harmlessly on the ground opposite the side the Titans were on and dashed off once more, bleating in joy yet again.

Unfortunately for Capricarn, Robin was able to fight off his shock just in time to kick start the R-Cycle into a daring leap over the wall of flames while the other 3 Titans currently still actively on the villain's tail managed to simply fly over the flames, with Raven even going so far as to summon a shadowy vortex underneath that instantly sucked the dangerous obstacle out of existence. Capricarn just happened to turn his head to look behind him, and his grin faded at the sight of the four Titans having managed to both evade and dispose of the obstacle he'd set up. "They always have to make it even harder," he thought to himself in half irritation and half respect.

Thinking quickly, the saber-toothed satyr jumped away to his left, grabbing onto a lamppost and swinging himself around in circles before eventually letting go and sending himself rocketing hoof-first back towards where he'd been positioned at the time he'd jumped. And just as Capricarn had planned, Robin zoomed right into that very area, and the Boy Wonder had just enough time to shriek with his eyes widened before he got sent flying right off the R-Cycle as a result of the villain's hooves slamming into his side. Even as Robin landed hard on the sidewalk nearby, Capricarn managed to grab onto the handle bars of the now riderless R-Cycle and swing himself astride. With a pleasured bleating laugh, he gunned the pedals, and sent himself rocketing forward once again.

Robin's eyes widened once more at the sight of Capricarn making off with the R-Cycle, and he was able to hurriedly snap out of his initial pain from landing and back onto his feet, snapping his left palm forward uselessly as if trying to grab his vehicle back. "Hey that's mine!" he shouted.

"Thanks for the free getaway ride Bird Boy!" yelled Capricarn. He let out his bleating laugh yet again as he proceeded to continue pressing on the pedals and send the R-Cycle rocketing forward even faster.

Robin growled, and clenched his fists in rage. "If I catch you first," he snarled to himself just as much as to Capricarn, "you are so dead." He drew out his grappling gun, fired, and started using it to swing himself across multiple lampposts and other convenient objects in continued pursuit of the villainous satyr-like monster.

The other Titans, meanwhile, managed to slowly start gaining on Capricarn themselves while still remaining currently ahead of the Boy Wonder. The satyr-like villain continued laughing maniacally and recklessly swerving around on his stolen transport, clearly enjoying himself. He turned his head to face his three closest pursuers. "Give it up kiddies!" he yelled. "You'll never catch me!" He turned his head to face the road ahead of him once more, laughing in the process yet again.

"That's what you think," Raven whispered to herself. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" She extended her now black glowing right hand forward at the same time she spoke her mantra, and within seconds a giant wall of shadowy energy popped into existence directly in front of Capricarn right as he was about to enter another intersection. The villain had no time to stop or turn around, and both he and the motorcycle crashed into the summoned barrier with an emphatic pounding noise. The R-Cycle was sent flying backward by the impact and bounced on the ground thrice before skidding to a halt, smoking and steaming. Capricarn landed on his back without going any further back then where he'd been positioned at the time of the crash, groaning and bleating in pain. The barrier faded away seconds later.

Capricarn was then jolted back into focus at the sound of snarling coming towards him, and he got up on his feet and looked behind just in time to see Beast Boy the cheetah lunge over the downed R-Cycle and straight towards him, morphing into a wolf in midair. The green wolf slammed into Capricarn, and the saber-toothed 'love-eater' tumbled onto his back with the snarling and slavering shape shifter still on top of him.

Beast Boy had enough time to emit one more vicious snarl before Capricarn backhanded him on the underside of his lower jaw and he reared up reflexively while howling in shock and discomfort. But that brief moment of distraction was all Capricarn needed, and he sent the changeling flying back off of him with a well-placed thrusting head-butt attack to the green wolf's chest. And for extra points on Capricarn's part, Beast Boy crashed right into Robin, and the two boys went sprawling. Capricarn leaped back onto his feet, bleating in pleasure once again before dashing off once more.

Starfire and Raven were not about to let Capricarn get away that easily, and they continued swooping after him, sending star bolts and shadow orbs flying at the fleeing criminal. Capricarn masterfully evaded every single one of the blasts through use of a series of cartwheels and somersaults. Raven soon noticed that she and Starfire weren't getting anywhere with their current efforts, and she then wordlessly melted herself into some nearby shadows, certain that Starfire would have an idea of what she was now planning. Starfire indeed did understand what her friend's intention was, and she continued flying after Capricarn and sending star bolts flying his way. Sure enough, right as Capricarn was halfway down the road segment leading up to yet another intersection and Starfire had positioned herself a few feet behind him and started charging up her eye beams, a shadowy vortex materialized not too far ahead of Capricarn and Raven lunged out, eyes glowing black and letting out a shriek of rage knowing that the villain would now be running too fast to stop and she and Starfire could easily catch him.

Unfortunately, Capricarn wasn't going to let himself be so easily trapped, and he took advantage of his inability to stop by jumping right over Raven, his speed from his initial running serving as a perfect means of propulsion. Raven had just enough time for her eyes to widen and to briefly look up towards Capricarn sailing over her before she heard Starfire shriek in front of her, and she turned her head just in time for both girls to painfully collide with each other and land on the ground all tangled up in Raven's cloak. Capricarn landed painlessly on the ground and started bounding off again. "Ha, ha!" he bleated. "You'll never catch me alive suckers!"

"We'll see about that!"

Stunned, Capricarn turned his head away from the downed girls behind him just in time to see that Robin and Beast Boy had somehow managed to get themselves positioned not too far in front of him and were now rushing towards him, with Beast Boy even in the form of a triceratops. Mentally cursing, Capricarn turned to try to run to his right, only for a sonic laser to blast the area directly in front of his hooves and cause him to jump backwards in fright before looking up in time to see Cyborg now standing at the entrance to the area he'd been about to try running down, glaring irately at the stunned miscreant. Realizing how very deeply in trouble he now was, Capricarn turned his head to look back towards Starfire and Raven once more, and found his heart sinking when he saw them back on their feet and tensed up in battle ready positions with their hands glowing with their signature energy. Then Capricarn heard snorting from behind him, and he turned his head in time to see that Robin and Beast Boy had come to a stop, and Robin was now smirking at him while Beast Boy merely snorted once more while directing an ominous glare towards him from his triceratops eyes, and even went so far as to paw his right foreleg back and forth like a bull. It seemed very much that the Titans were going to catch Capricarn right then and there.

But then the distinctive sound of a train sounding its horn split the air from Capricarn's left, and he turned his head. His face brightened into a gleeful smile as he saw a train start zooming over a nearby elevated railway train track bridge. "And that's my ride out! So long!" He hurriedly jumped over onto the wall of a nearby building and scurried upwards while the Titans were still off guard from his abrupt comments. He jumped onto the roof of one of the train cars and crouched into a firm position to avoid sliding off. He sarcastically waved towards the Titans. "Hasta la vista flatfoots! MAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA!"

Robin growled, and pointed his finger in the direction that the train was heading with the object of their chase on board. "After him! We can't let him get away!" The other Titans all snapped into action, with Raven levitating off after the train on her own, Beast Boy shifting into a pteranodon and carrying Cyborg away by the shoulders, and Starfire and Robin eagerly locking hands and taking off together in their familiar style.

Meanwhile, Capricarn was now practically skipping along as he made his way across the roofs of the freight cars on the train in an effort to continue putting distance between him and the Titans, chuckling happily in the process. But then he was forced to skid to a halt, hissing in displeasure when Cyborg abruptly landed not too far in front of him. Cyborg aimed his sonic cannon. "There ain't no Billy goats gruff getting past me!" He fired his cannon, and Capricarn ducked to avoid the blast. Capricarn jumped backwards in a back flip to avoid a second blast, then again to avoid a third, skidding to a halt afterwards.

Capricarn had just enough time to lift his head, direct a livid glare towards Cyborg, and snarl angrily before he then heard a guttural yell coming from above, and he looked up just in time to see Robin hurtling towards him with his feet at the ready to deliver a flying ninja kick. Robin's foot slammed into Capricarn's face and sent the saber-toothed villain stumbling forwards back towards Cyborg.

Capricarn was able to turn himself around to face Robin while still stumbling, only for Cyborg to then grab him by the horns while his back was still turned and start lifting him up. The criminal was not about to let himself be taken out that easily, and instead of letting Cyborg forcibly lift him up, he used Cyborg's own effort at picking as a means to propel his legs to allow him to flip over Cyborg, simultaneously slipping his horns free of Cyborg's grasp. The villain landed astride Cyborg's neck and upper back with his legs lying across the bionic teen's shoulders. Cyborg had just barely noticed how Capricarn had now positioned himself before the saber-toothed satyr-like villain locked his legs around his neck, leaned backwards, and pressed his clawed furry hands against the ground; at which point he then did a backflip, yanking Cyborg into the air and slamming him down hard face-first on the roof of the train car. And in a blind act of pure spite, he went so far as to jump up and slam the bottom of his right hoof on the back of Cyborg's head right as the bionic teenager was starting to lift his head up from the train car's roof.

Capricarn had just enough time to sneer at Cyborg, who was now groaning in pain while still lying face down on the train car's roof before he then felt something wiry wrap around his horns and yank him backwards. He mentally cursed. "Darn you Boy Wonder," he growled to himself in his mind as he was continuously dragged backwards and off balance by the grappling hook cable that was now wrapped around his horns. The cable tugged hard enough to turn him around, and he got slugged in the snout by Robin's swift left fist uppercut. Capricarn stumbled backwards, but regained his footing in time to make a defensive gesture to block against the karate chop that Robin sent his way next.

The two combatants engaged in a hearty brawl that involved plenty of thrusts, punches, jabs, kicks, elbow strikes, and similar motions. Then Robin stretched a good couple inches too far with his newest attempt at punching out Capricarn, who ducked easily enough, and the saber toothed criminal managed to pound Robin in the chest with a swift uppercut with his furry right fist before the Boy Wonder had a chance to get back into position from his failed punch attempt. Robin had only just gasped from the impact of the punch to his chest when Capricarn grabbed him by the shoulders, pushed him down, and struck him in the stomach with a knee-strike. A gasp of pain burst from Robin at the impact, and he was then sent flying backward when Capricarn followed up with a backflip jumping kick with his right hoof. Robin came to a hard landing a couple train cars behind him, and he was just barely able to draw two of his birdirangs in time to stop himself from sliding right off the train.

Capricarn had just started laughing heartily at the Boy Wonder's expense when his eyes then widened and he was forced to jump back in time to avoid getting struck when Starfire proceeded to dive bomb the area he'd been standing on with a furious shout. The enraged Tamaranean princess struck the rooftop area with such force that she blew a hole right through that spot. Capricarn leaned his head over the hole, a smirk on his face. "You missed . . ." The train car roof burst out from underneath him and sent him rocketing upward. Starfire had caught her target. And to further emphasize her newfound advantage, Starfire continued hovering over the area she'd burst up through long enough to pound the now falling Capricarn in the side of his head with her right fist. The satyr-like criminal was sent hurtling down towards several train cars behind Cyborg, and he both landed painfully and bounced across the rooves of the cars.

While still bouncing, Capricarn's eyes widened when he heard a familiar mantra coming from the area he was bouncing towards, and he directed his gaze towards that area just in time to see Raven lunge out of a newly materialized vortex of shadows and send her right foot flying towards him. The resulting kick sent Capricarn stumbling backwards on one foot. And then he got pounded in the back by Starfire slamming into him from behind. He landed flat on his face.

"AZARATH, METRION, ZINTHOS!"

Capricarn's eyes widened again. The mantra had come from directly above him. He looked up, and then hurriedly jumped away back towards the direction where Cyborg and Robin were still located just in time to avoid getting struck by the jet of star bolt fire and shadowy energy lightning bolt that zapped the area where he'd been lying down upon. The villain barely even had any time to catch his breath when his attention was drawn to the area behind him by Cyborg and Robin yelling and running towards him from behind. He turned around in time to grab onto Robin's bo staff before it could strike him and propel it to send Robin flying over him, but he was still too late to avoid getting slugged in the face by Cyborg's powerful right hook.

Capricarn managed to stumble sufficiently enough to regain his footing, only to then find himself having to rapidly dodge and deflect a rapid-fire onslaught of attacks that came at him from left, right, behind, and in front of him. And to further add to the difficulty, even while already in the midst of having to deal with Cyborg shooting at him with his sonic cannon in front of him, Robin hurling birdirang after birdirang from behind, Starfire tossing star bolt after star bolt from the left, and Raven unleashing bursts of shadowy energy from the right, Capricarn had to also deal with completely randomly timed and out of nowhere dive bomb attacks from Beast Boy in his peregrine falcon form.

Capricarn managed to grab Beast Boy the falcon by the neck right as the green bird was in the midst of another dive bomb sweep at his face, and he held the shape shifter up in front of his face just as Cyborg was about to fire his sonic cannon again at that very area, forcing the bionic teenager to hurriedly swerve his right arm to his right to avoid striking his green friend, only to end up accidentally blasting Starfire backwards out of position. And at the exact same time that little bit of drama occurred, Capricarn managed to catch onto yet another birdirang that Robin threw at him without even turning his head to face him, not even flinching at the sound of the device starting to beep ominously before then hurling it right at Raven, who just barely had enough time to summon a force field before the projectile crashed into the energy barrier and exploded into a vibrant cloud of flames with just enough force to send Raven flying backward in spite of the force field.

With both of the girl Titans now out of the way, Capricarn turned to face Robin and threw Beast Boy at him. Beast Boy had literally _just_ been on the verge of turning into a reticulated python when he got thrown at Robin, and by the time he realized what had now happened, he was too late to cancel his transformation, and he had just enough time to hiss in a clear 'oh crap' tone upon assuming the serpentine form before he then crashed into Robin and both the Boy Wonder and the massive green snake went flying over the side of the train car that Robin had been standing on. But of course, Capricarn had no time to celebrate before Cyborg then plowed into him with an angry yell, and the two sole combatants on board the train roof went tumbling along the train car rooves once more.

The bionic teen and saber-toothed goat monster managed to get on their feet, and they then began to engage in a rapid flurry of fisticuffs and similar physical blows. Then they happened to start passing by what looked like a pylon with a large spinning pole on the top, and right as one side of the pole in question began to fly over the two combatants, Capricarn jumped up and grabbed onto it, allowing him to fly right over Cyborg and avoid the bionic teen's newest attempted attack.

Cyborg turned his head to face the still hovering and apparently fleeing Capricarn. "Coward!" he yelled.

But as it turned out, Capricarn was not trying to escape. The criminal knew quite well that the pole he was on would eventually spin right back over the train, and while the side he was clinging onto was on the verge of passing the completely sky-based side of the pylon, he started swinging himself up and down in back flipping circles over and under the pole. Too late Cyborg realized what Capricarn was about to do right as the still rapidly flipping and spinning villain was about to reach the area where he was positioned. His human eye widened, and his cybernetic eye turned an even brighter shade of red at the sight. "Oh cra. . . . ."

Crash! Capricarn's hooves slammed into Cyborg's face and sent the bionic teenage hero flying off the train. Cyborg screamed as he went hurtling through the air, and he landed hard on a nearby street and bounced a few times across the pavement before landing on the sidewalk and bouncing across it a few more times before then skidding to a stop . . . and in the process managing to collide with a young blue eyed blonde who seemed to be about the same age as him. Both Cyborg and the civilian shrieked upon impact and they then tumbled across the sidewalk before then skidding to a stop in a position in which the civilian appeared to be pinned underneath Cyborg, who was lying on top of her.

The two somewhat awkwardly positioned people groaned, and had just closed their eyes to mentally shake out the disorientation when they heard a voice nearby say, "Hey it's Cyborg again!"

Cyborg looked behind him in time to see a large group of clearly disabled kids with varying robotic prosthetic limbs standing nearby, three of which looked especially familiar. Cyborg's eyes then widened as he fully recognized the three at the very front of the group, and then he looked back down at the face of the young woman he'd accidentally crashed into, who's own eyes were now also widened in apparent recognition of her own. They'd met before.

"Hey!" Cyborg blurted out half giddily and half shocked. Then he remembered the current position he and the poor girl were in, and his stunned smile turned into a sheepish grimace. "Er, and uh, sorry?"

The girl sighed, shook her head side to side, and directed a half 'seriously?' and half 'nice to see you again' look up at the half robot teen hero. "We have got to stop meeting like this."

. . . . .

Meanwhile, Capricarn was currently standing on the roof of the train car he'd sent Cyborg flying off of, hands on his hips, unleashing a triumphant bleating laugh. "They'll never get me now!" he shouted, clearly believing victory to be his.

"I wouldn't bet on that just yet."

Capricarn turned his head at the sound of Robin's voice just in time to see none other than Starfire flying towards him while carrying the Boy Wonder as a result of locking hands with him. "Oh for crying out loud!" Capricarn yelled before he then hurriedly jumped off the roof of the train car he was standing on, making a point to carefully flip and jump his way across several other conveniently located environmental elements before eventually using a large cement construction pipe to safely slide his way back down to the ground. But of course, Robin and Starfire managed to follow him, and the saber-toothed miscreant was forced to continue running away to escape them. But then Raven and Beast Boy abruptly came to a landing in front of him, and he skidded to a halt.

Beast Boy snarled, turned into a gorilla, and rushed straight at Capricarn. Capricarn was quick to dodge the green ape's attempt to punch him out, and he swiped the changeling's legs out from under him with a swing of his own legs, and then jumped over the downed ape the moment it had crash landed on its back on the street. But Raven's attack, a wave of shadow energy, caught him in midair and sent him flying off towards Robin and Starfire. Starfire blasted him in the back with her eye beams, and the villain went pounding onto the street himself, but on his stomach. Capricarn got back on his feet, only to then have to jump away all over again to avoid getting smacked on the head by Robin's bo staff. With that narrow escape having been made, Capricarn managed to flee another kilometer or so before he then found himself stuck in a three-way trap between Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy (who had now taken on the form of a grizzly bear).

Fortunately for the villain, there was an abandoned outdoor sale stall containing various gems and similar objects on display, and right as Starfire was about to fire her eye beams at him once more, he snatched a diamond prism that happened to be for sale and held it in front of his face. The beam ended up striking the tip of the prism, and the object's reflective nature caused the beam to be split in two and sent flying off to the left and right, at which point Beast Boy and Raven got zapped and sent flying backwards in their respective directions by Starfire's own reflected laser beam.

Capricarn had just turned his head to direct a smug smirk at Beast Boy when he saw an angry Robin running past the downed shape shifter and straight towards him with one of his nunchucks at the ready. Quick as a viper, Capricarn grabbed onto one end of the nunchuck and pulled on it, sending Robin flying straight towards Starfire. The Boy Wonder painfully collided with his girlfriend in midair, and the duo went crashing right through the main front window for a nearby shop that appeared to be entirely Valentine's Day themed. Upon crashing through this window, the Boy Wonder and his Tamaranean girlfriend bounced across the floor a few times before then unwittingly getting snagged within some considerably long Valentine's Day streamers dangling from the ceiling and subsequently getting spun around and tangled up together within said streamers.

Seconds later, the two teens finally realized the not entirely modest position they'd now unwittingly gotten themselves tangled up in. To be precise, they were now dangling upside down while being tangled up in position for them to be face-to-face and pressed against each other's chests. "I do believe this would be what one would consider an . . . awkward position," said Starfire.

"You assume correctly," said Robin, clearly not at all enjoying the current circumstances.

Then Robin suddenly noticed a slight movement out of the corner of his eye, and he turned his head. His heart promptly plummeted at the sight of none other than the seemingly 21 or so year old girl who'd been at the checkout desk standing right there with her cell phone drawn out and pointing at them, her facial expression clearly gleeful and hinting at being about to either take a picture of them or do something similarly embarrassing. "Oh Hell," Robin said before grimacing. Starfire turned her head at the sound of this, and had just enough time to raise her eyebrow before the cashier pressed a button on her phone and the distinctive snap of a camera split the air.

Meanwhile, outside the store where Robin and Starfire had now gotten involved in their current embarrassing debacle, Capricarn was still on the run trying to evade Beast Boy and Raven. In the process, they happened to run right nearby a gathered group of local Jump City News reporters who appeared to be in the midst of either packing up their gear or preparing for a live broadcast. Capricarn needed only to catch sight of a very large looking spotlight device in the possession of the press people before then jumping right over and snatching it into his own furry hands. He pointed the device at Raven, set it to maximum brightness, and turned it on. The massive beam of light that emitted from the spotlight caught Raven in the eyes, and the gray skinned teen sorceress shrieked in discomfort before snapping her hands over her eyes and halting her aerial advance.

Capricarn had just started letting out his bleating laugh once again in triumph at Raven's expense before he then heard a very angry sounding reptilian snarling coming from in front of him at a more ground-based position, and he looked in that area just in time to see a green Utahraptor lunge at him. The dinosaur slammed into Capricarn and the spotlight went flying out of Capricarn's hands as he and the shapeshifter began tumbling over each other backwards straight into a nearby alleyway.

The alleyway in question turned out to be a dead end, and Beast Boy managed to get himself detached from Capricarn just in time to avoid crashing into the wall; unlike Capricarn. Capricarn groaned from the impact of his back crashing against the wall, and he managed to get back on his feet with some difficulty. The satyr-like criminal had just enough time to shake his head as if to clear his throats and let out a half pained and half irritated groan before he then heard Beast Boy say, "End of the line Grover. End of the line."

Capricarn lifted his head up to face Beast Boy, who had reverted back to his human form and was now glaring intently at the villain. Capricarn snarled. "That's not my name."

Beast Boy snarled back. "Yeah well, boohoo. I'm not in the mood for any more silliness right now. So you'd best make things easier for yourself now."

Capricarn chuckled upon hearing that last line from Beast Boy, and he surreptitiously placed his right hand behind his back as if reaching for something. "Oh don't make me laugh," said the criminal. "When has a line like that ever worked for killjoy heroes like you?"

Beast Boy growled. "Don't push me pal, I'm really not in the mood."

"Yeah well, too bad," said Capricarn. "But at least you'll probably still have a good snack's worth inside you nonetheless."

"What are you . . .?"

In a flash, Capricarn snapped his right hand out from behind his back and slammed it onto the area where Beast Boy's heart was located, the hand in question crackling with what looked like a golden yellow aura of light that then seemingly crackled like electricity. Capricarn had just enough time to chuckle maniacally before he then realized that, aside from a brief flinch of shock, Beast Boy didn't seem to be at all affected. The action in question that Capricarn had just pulled was a very powerful last resort move in which by charging up enough energy, he could automatically absorb and extract all the emotional energy within a being's heart at once. But now, for some odd reason, Beast Boy did not seem to have been at all affected.

After about another minute or two, the yellow aura faded from Capricarn's hand, and he slowly looked back up into Beast Boy's face, his face now clearly silently screaming 'oh crap' as he realized how very screwed he now was. "That . . . wasn't supposed to happen."

"Too bad," said Beast Boy. With a growl, he slugged Capricarn in the jaw. And just like that, the chase was over.

 **And just like that, the first chapter (well 2nd if you count the prologue) is out of the way! Again, hoping you enjoyed this, and please do leave plenty of reviews (regardless of whether you have an account here or not). Again, it is MANDATORY that I receive at least 1 review for this chapter by the time I finish the next chapter. And on that note, for those of you who I'm sure will be confused about just what happened in that last little confrontation between Beast Boy and Capricarn, fear not. It will all be explained in time. But on that note, once again, I hope you all enjoyed!**

 **Coming up Next: Capricarn is sent off to jail, and the Titans get the chance to finally appreciate just how close it is to Valentine's Day this year. And as if to further sweeten things up, the Titans (particularly Cyborg) soon find themselves gaining a quite pleasant new friend among the civilians of Jump City. Beast Boy, however, doesn't seem entirely over the weather; and that's something that Raven actually has perfectly good reason to be worried about. But why? Find out on the next chapter, of Shadows of Love.**


	3. One Man's Joy Another Man's Sorrow

**Hey there people! Guess what?! A new chapter! And it's only been about 2-3 days since the last chapter I posted to! I must be on a role! ^_^ Here's to hoping that I continue to keep making progress at the rate I'm currently appearing to be making it (though we'd best not hold our breath, just in case). And that being said, just to remind you, in this chapter, Capricarn is sent off to jail, the Titans finally get the chance to relax and appreciate just how close it is to Valentine's Day this current year in their universe, and all of them (but particularly Cyborg) soon find themselves making a quite pleasant new friend. But even in spite of all this goodness currently going on, is there still perhaps any reason yet for anyone to be worried or likewise on guard for unpleasantness? Particularly in regard to Beast Boy? Let's find out shall we?**

 **A/N: Again, I do not own Teen Titans or anything/where/one else DC based. Got that? Good. Now onward with the fic! And that being said, here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Chapter 2:**

 **One Man's Joy; Another Man's Sorrow**

"Well Titans, you've done it again."

"Thanks, our pleasure," said Robin, who was now in the midst of talking to one of the cops who'd arrived on the scene to pick up the still knocked out and unconscious Capricarn. Robin pointed into the still open backend of the prison transport vehicle where the saber-toothed satyr-like villain was even now out cold sitting on a bench-like extension against the back wall separating him from where the cops sat with his hands encased in specially designed restraining encasements attached to that very wall and his head hung low from his unconsciousness with a device around his neck that was clearly recognizable as an inhibitor collar. "I guess he'll be going to Jump City Prison now?"

The cop shook his head. "Originally, that was the plan." He then pointed at Capricarn himself. "But apparently, as of a couple days ago, this crook's been spoken for. He'll be shipped off to a different prison."

"On who's authority?" Robin asked.

"Mine."

The Titans all turned their heads in time to see a heavily built and very stern and imposing looking 30-40 something year old African American woman standing nearby.

Robin's eyes narrowed. "And you are?"

"Waller," said the woman. She folded her arms across her chest. "Amanda Waller."

At the sound of that name, not even his mask was enough to hide the fact that Robin's eyes had now widened. Beast Boy and Cyborg, likewise looked quite stunned upon hearing the woman's name. Even Raven looked somewhat unnerved. Starfire, however, just looked plain confused. "Oh," said Robin. He looked over at Capricarn, and then back at Waller. "I'm guessing that would mean he's going to Belle Reve?"

"Indeed."

"May I ask why?" Robin asked. "Strictly out of curiosity?" he then added to avoid potentially making himself sound as if he were insulting Waller or deliberately trying to question her authority. While this was the first time he and the other Titans had ever actually met Amanda Waller, her reputation, combined with what Batman himself had told Robin about his own experiences with the woman were enough to allow Robin to know that it would be a bad idea to mess around with her.

Waller nodded her head. "From what I hear," she pointed at Capricarn, "this creature is what you would call an 'emotional vampire', which to my understanding is a very rare breed of meta. And that being said, even now I am quite certain that there is much still left to be learned in regard to such beings in more ways than one."

The Titans looked each other in the eyes, thinking the words over. "Well yes," said Robin. "That is true."

Waller nodded her head once more. "That being said," she continued. "I am also under the impression from word on the street that this is only the 2nd being with such powers that you have encountered, and the only one of the two to have currently been subjected to traditional legal imprisonment."

Robin winced, not entirely certain what to say in response to that. How the heck the woman even knew those particular factoids were beyond him, but it was nonetheless embarrassing that she knew that much. But then he decided it was best not to lie when it came to the warden of Belle Reve. "Also true," Robin managed to groan.

"In which case," said Waller "considering how little we know of emotional vampires in general, let alone this particular one and what he may yet be capable of that he hasn't had the chance to display, it may be necessary both to experiment with him and subject him to imprisonment with extra high caution in mind. And that being said, with my prison's somewhat higher success rate at keeping its supervillain inmates contained compared to others, particularly compared to Jump City Prison, I believe that Belle Reve would be the wisest choice of location to have this creature incarcerated within." She then looked over at the still unconscious Capricarn, and then back at Robin. "And even without all that in mind, he could yet in the future prove useful for my little string of . . . community service projects."

Robin mentally tensed up upon hearing that last bit, but with major willpower managed to keep himself together. "I see," Robin managed to say. He nodded his head, his eyes closed to further demonstrate his work at being respectful. "In that case, I wish you luck with him."

"Appreciated." Waller turned her head to face the out cold prisoner once more. "He calls himself Capricarn, is that right?"

"Yes," said Robin.

"Hmm," said Waller, narrowing her eyes as if working to take an even closer look at Capricarn. "Appropriate." She turned around to face the cop standing in front of the open doors to where Capricarn was being held. "Take him away to Jump City Prison for temporary storage. I want him somewhat secure while the transfer is set up, and by the time that has happened, I want him ready for transport within the next two days at most."

"Yes mam," said the cop in a half respectful and half nervous tone of voice.

"Good." Waller nodded her head. "Carry on. Have a nice day." She walked away from the scene, slowly drawing out a phone and seemingly initiating a call.

It wasn't till the quite imposing legend was almost certainly no longer in sight or hearing range when the cop finally deemed it safe to speak to the Titans again. "Will that be all?"

Robin, jolted out of his own brief unnerved stupor from having to deal with Waller, thought to himself, and then nodded his head. "Yes sir. That will be all."

"Good to know." The cop turned his head to face the other cops standing by the open doors to where Capricarn was sitting. "You heard him boys. Shut the doors, and let's move out." His buddies complied, and they all gave their thanks and farewells, got into their vehicles, and left the area with the captured Capricarn in tow.

Several minutes later, Starfire finally broke the uncomfortable silence that had ensued. "So," she said. "We are victorious?"

"Yes Star," said Robin, a small smile coming almost instinctively onto his face at the sound of her voice. "We are indeed victorious." Then he looked back in the direction that Waller had departed, an unnerved glare coming back onto his face. "And hopefully, both A: Capricarn stays in Belle Reve, and B: we never encounter any other villains that end up getting personally spoken for by its warden."

"Join the club man," said Cyborg. He looked in the same direction the Boy Wonder was glancing in, shuddering involuntarily as he too thought about the littler encounter. "So that was the legendary Amanda Waller."

"I'll say," said Beast Boy. He shuddered as well. "Never thought I'd actually see that woman in person. Quite frankly I wish I still hadn't seen her in person."

"Join the club," said Raven. "Considering who my father is and how many other nasty super villains of similar caliber we've encountered as well as him; I didn't think she could possibly be as bad as her reputation indicates. But now, having actually met her in person and gotten an idea of what she's like and what sort of empathic feedback she gives off, I can definitely say that she's in a league of her own."

"Please," said Starfire. "Could someone explain to me as to just who this Amanda Waller person is and what's of such high importance about her?"

"Sure thing Star," said Robin. He turned to face his girlfriend. "She's the warden of Belle Reve Penitentiary in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana." He briefly turned his head to face the direction Waller had departed. "And this isn't just any jail either. Reportedly, it's one of the highest security prisons, if not _the_ highest security prison, in America. And it's also an especially popular choice of jail for supervillains. Rumor has it, Belle Reve's got more supervillains and metahuman criminals among its inmates then Arkham Asylum and Stryker's Island combined." He looked back at Starfire. "But that's not what really makes her worth watching your back around. From what I've heard, and is widely accepted by the general population, she's got an iron will that puts most other iron wills to shame, and she's got the authority to back it up. As Snapper Carr himself once said after an interview with her he managed to survive through, 'when she wants something done, it gets done, no matter what'." He shuddered. "And he wasn't kidding either. From what I've heard, she's willing to go to some serious lengths to fulfill her objectives. And she's not above sacrificing the few for the needs of the many."

"And that's not the only thing shady about her either," said Beast Boy. The other Titans all looked at their green shape shifter friend. "What Robin hasn't yet gotten to, is just what she means by her little 'community service projects', at least assuming the rumors are true anyway." He took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Rumor has it, she has large numbers of the supervillain inmates among her prison's repertoire join together in this group she funds and commands and send them out on missions in an effort to practically force them into reforming and doing acts of good; even going so far as to reportedly set up painful or even lethal countermeasures to try to keep some of the more dangerous inmates in line. Reportedly, this group is called the Suicide Squad, named after how it's practically suicide for any of the members to dare try to disobey or question Waller's authority. And from what I hear, plenty of investigations have been made on these, but no one's ever been able to prove a thing." He looked back in the direction that Waller had departed. "Believe me, like Robin more or less implied, no one screws around with Amanda Waller; not if they value their lives, or their reputations."

Starfire gulped, and thought to herself. "I see," she eventually managed to say, though her facial expression clearly showed that she both still didn't fully see, nor entirely wanted to completely see just what her team mates were describing about this woman.

"Well never mind all that now," said Robin, now clearly wanting to switch to a somewhat more pleasant topic of discussion. "Right now, let's just take a deep breath, relax, and truly enjoy ourselves and appreciate who good of a day we're having."

The Titans all looked up towards the sky, took deep breaths, and exhaled. After a brief bit of tense silence, they all noticeably relaxed in their posture and had varying degrees of happiness show on their faces. "And I daresay," said Robin, "that we actually in fact are having a pretty nice day if I do say so myself."

"Indeed," said Starfire. Her smile widened, and she clasped her hands together happily. "Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but I do believe the day of Valentine's will be occurring within the next four days, is that the correct?"

Robin's own smile widened without him even turning to look at the Tamaranean. "You've certainly got that right Star."

Starfire nearly squealed with delight upon hearing this, prompting Raven to raise her eyebrow. "You're certainly in a good mood," the Azarathian stated in her usual deadpan tone.

Starfire giggled. "How could I not friend?" she asked happily. "In light of the glorious holiday soon to unfold upon us?"

"Well you're acting considerably happier about it than usual," said Cyborg. "Even by your standards."

Indeed, as Starfire soon noticed not too long after hearing this last comment from Cyborg, she had, without even realizing, started hovering in circles through the sky around her friends at a level just barely above their heads. While surprised at first upon discovering this, it didn't take long for her to go back to her usual cheerful self, and she giggled with her fists raised up towards her face as if in a victory gesture. "So I am," she admitted. She lowered herself back down to the ground, her happiness not diminished in the slightest.

Beast Boy shook his head, a bemused look on his face. "Sheesh Star," said the changeling. "So what if it is Valentine's Day? We celebrate it every year. It's not like it's some seriously obscure festival that only occurs every decade or two. Heck, from the way you're acting, one could easily think that we are about to celebrate someone's wedding day!"

"Oh but I have especially good reason to be looking forward to the day of Valentine's this year," said Star. She looked over at Robin, an especially joyous look on her face. "Isn't that right Robin?"

For a brief moment, Robin was confused. But then it all clicked back together and his smile returned. "Of course," he thought to himself. Now he remembered quite well one not so little detail that gave the upcoming Valentine's Day a world of difference from the other four the Titans had celebrated together over the course of the team's existence. And now, thanks to some particularly pleasant results that had unfolded over the course of their adventures in Tokyo the previous year, this year's Valentine's Day would be the very first Valentine's Day that he and Starfire could truly appreciate and celebrate together as an official couple as opposed to just two unlucky in love team mates who just could not spit it out even in spite of the appallingly obvious sexual tension existing between them. And from Starfire's current unprecedented level of happiness in anticipation of the holiday this year, she clearly knew it to. "Yes indeed Star," Robin agreed. "Yes indeed."

Beast Boy snorted, and turned his head to briefly look behind him. "Get a room," he whispered under his breath in an unexpectedly gruff and almost bitter tone.

Raven was the only one who managed to hear Beast Boy, and she turned her head towards him with an unusually worried look on her face. Under usual circumstances, she would have made a sarcastic remark about Beast Boy's comment, not to mention about him being the one to say it. But now, Raven couldn't help but feel somewhat unnerved about Beast Boy's current behavior and apparent mood, particularly in light of some quite eerie context from not too long before Capricarn had finally been apprehended.

Then Cyborg chuckled, a devious grin on his face as he looked towards the team's power couple and shook his head side to side in amusement. "Oh yeah, that's right," said the bionic teen superhero. "This is ya'll's first Valentine's Day in which you get to be official about it." He chuckled once more. "About time to. It still feels to me as if it were only yesterday when we celebrated Valentine's Day together for the first time 4 years ago when you and Star could barely stay in the same room or other area together for more than 5 seconds without some sort of spectacular embarrassment inducing disaster occurring."

"I got no idea what you're talking about," Robin responded without even turning his head to look at Cyborg.

His second in command chuckled. "Already put all that behind you huh? Definitely not a bad idea. I certainly wouldn't want unpleasant history muddying things up for me today either if I were in your shoes."

"Enjoy it while you can Cyborg," said Robin. Now he finally deemed it necessary to turn his head to face Cyborg. "Trust me, if you ever get a girlfriend, Beast Boy and I will be more than happy to put you through the same abuse you guys put me through. Isn't that right Beast Boy?"

At this Beast Boy turned his head to look at Robin, his earlier not entirely happy look now replaced with a grin. But as Raven could tell, the grin that was currently on the face of her green team mate looked quite different from the usual kind of grin that could be found on his face. Unlike his usual familiar genuinely happy grin of joy or gloating triumph, this grin looked considerably more maliciously smug then his usual smug grins. He then chuckled. "You . . . betcha . . . Robin . . ." he responded.

"Um . . . ok then," said Cyborg, now clearly feeling a little nervous from the situation. Then he shook his head to clear his thoughts, and then his eyes widened soon after that as he remembered something else. "Oh yeah," he then said. He looked at his four friends. "That reminds me, there's someone I'd like us all to talk to right now."

The other four Titans raised their eyebrows. "And who might this person be?" Robin asked.

"Don't you worry," said a voice from somewhere behind Cyborg. "We've met before."

Cyborg turned his head, and the other Titans all worked themselves into position to take a good look behind him as well. Standing a couple feet or so down the sidewalk behind Cyborg was a person that they all had indeed both met before and knew could be trusted. The young woman smiled, her blue eyes agleam. "I can certainly say it's nice to see you guys in person again." Her smile widened, and she placed her hands in her pants pockets. "Doubly so now that I think about it; after all, I never did tell you my name when we first met each other in person last June, did I?"

All five of the Titans looked each other in the eyes, then back at the young woman, the sheepish look in their eyes giving her more than enough of an answer. "Yeah," Robin said awkwardly. "Not that that's necessarily a bad thing mind you. I mean, it wouldn't really be professional, let alone practically advisable for us to expect to try to get on a first name basis with all the civilians here in Jump City that we've saved. Plus, the job doesn't really allow for us to let you know us by any name other than our public identity . . ."

"It's Sarah by the way."

The Titans all briefly directed confused looks towards the civilian. "Come again?" Robin asked.

"My name," the young woman clarified. "It's Sarah. Sarah Simms."

For a brief moment, the Titans were all dead silent, uncertain as to how to respond. "Ok then," Robin eventually managed to say. "Well in that case, it's nice to get to know you Mrs. Simms . . ."

"Please, call me Sarah," said Sarah.

The Titans thought to themselves, and then nodded their heads in acceptance.

"Ok then, nice to get to know you Sarah," said Robin. He looked directly at the young woman, still looking somewhat confused. "But why tell us your name so willingly right now? I mean, this is only the second time we've met."

Sarah thought to herself. "Honestly, I can't really say for certain." She intertwined her fingers. "I guess it just, felt like the right thing to do. Call it an intuition I guess." She looked back up at the five teen heroes, smile back on her face. "But nonetheless, it's nice to meet you guys again as well."

Robin smiled. "I can definitely agree with you there." Starfire giggled, Raven let a small smile come on her own face from under her hood, and even Beast Boy let a small toothy grin come on his face. Cyborg, however, seemed at first to be somewhat stunned and to have his mind on something else.

Beast Boy noticed this, and his eyebrow rose in concern. "You ok Cyborg?"

"What?" Cyborg asked. Then he noticed everyone looking at him. "Oh sorry, got distracted." He cleared his throat, and then looked back at Sarah with a smile of his own on his face. "And yeah, it's definitely nice we all got to see you again today."

Sarah chuckled, brushed her left hand through her hair, and shook her head side to side. "Indeed," she agreed in a half dreamy and half sentimental tone. She then hung her head slightly. "And now that I think about it, if it's not too much to ask, there's actually something else I'd like to ask you." She looked back at Cyborg. "Particularly you."

The Titans looked each other in the eyes, considered what Sarah had said, and then Cyborg's four younger fellow founders nodded their heads, clearly willing to hear Sarah out. Upon receiving this silent acceptance and approval from his friends, Cyborg turned his head to face Sarah once more. "I'm listening," said Cyborg.

Sarah smiled again upon hearing this, took a deep breath, and then exhaled. She clasped her hands together, her fingers intertwining as she mentally prepared herself to speak. "Well . . . you see Cyborg . . . I'm sure you remember all those kids you've seen me hanging around today and last June?"

Cyborg nodded his head. "That's correct."

Sarah nodded in relief. "Well I'm sure you've noticed how they all have prosthetic limbs, and just how much those particular three you met last year seemed to idolize you so much."

Cyborg nodded once more, a small smile coming on his face as he remembered those details. "I certainly won't forget all that in a hurry."

"That's good."

Sarah took another deep breath, and exhaled once more. "You see; those three kids aren't the only kids I work with who treat you that way. In fact, every single one of the kids I work with practically worships you as their own personal hero. You could basically say that they make up the entirety of the membership of your own personal little fan club."

Cyborg mentally whistled. "Wow," he said. "Really?"

Sarah nodded. "You have no idea how much you've affected all those kids I work with." She briefly turned her head to look behind her. "Those kids . . . to them, you're not just any random hero. To them, you're a living symbol of hope, an example to look up to, virtually a God among people, among heroes even."

Sarah looked back at Cyborg and the Titans once more. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling. To make a long story short. . ." She took another deep breath, and then exhaled once more. "This Valentine's Day," she began. "I'm going to be taking the entire group on a little trip to Jump City Park and . . . well . . . I was wondering . . . if it would perhaps be possible for you to come to the park and hang out there with me and the kids that day? Granted, I know that you're often pretty busy and all, even on holidays, but Jackson, Stephanie, and Joseph have been especially hopeful in getting the chance to see you personally again after they met you and got your autograph last year, and all the other kids have wanted so badly to get the chance to have a similar experience, and I just think that all that combined with how big of a hero and idol you are to them all, well it would really make their day if you could come see them in person and . . ."

Cyborg placed his hand on Sarah's shoulder, and she stopped talking. "Say no more," Cyborg said when Sarah lifted her head to look him in the eye. "I'd be more than happy to drop by that day." He turned his head to face his fellow Titans. "Assuming that is, you guys are ok with it."

The Titans were already nodding their heads in approval. Even Beast Boy had what looked like an actually quite genuine smile on his face, and was directing a thumbs up towards his bionic buddy. "You go on ahead dude," said Beast Boy. "You've earned it man."

For a moment, Cyborg was uncertain what to say, touched by what his friends had just done for him. Then he smiled. "Thanks guys."

"You're welcome Cy," said Robin. He gave a thumbs up of his own. "This is what friends are for."

Cyborg chuckled, and turned his head to face Sarah once more. "It's a date."

Sarah couldn't have possibly looked any happier than she did upon hearing this response from Cyborg. She then hugged Cyborg. "Thank you," she said. "You have no idea how much this will mean to the kids." She pulled away from Cyborg. "This Valentine's Day, we'll be arriving at the park no later than 9:00 in the morning."

"I'll be there," said Cyborg.

Sarah nodded. "Thank you," she said once more. She turned and started walking away back towards the direction from which she'd come. As she departed, she turned her head to face the Titans one more time. "I'll see you later!"

"Right back at you," said Cyborg, his thumb raised in approval. Sarah directed one last happy smile towards Cyborg and the other Titans, then turned her head and practically stampeded away to return to where she'd been before her little talk with the Titans.

Meanwhile, Robin couldn't help but direct a half genuine smile and half smug smirk towards Cyborg. "Well Cyborg," said Robin. "Looks like I'm not the only one who's got a hot date this Valentine's Day, huh?"

Cyborg sighed, and rolled his human eye. "Come on man."

Robin placed his hand on Cyborg's shoulder. "Relax pal. I'm not gonna start on it this soon. You deserve a good month's grace period at most before Beast Boy and I get to work."

"Here, here," said Beast Boy.

Raven just rolled her eyes. "Boys," she thought to herself.

Starfire, however, seemed as if she hadn't even heard a thing that the boys had just said. "Oh how much more fantastic this day has become!" she yelled gleefully. "Cyborg has finally gotten a girlfriend of his own!"

Cyborg mentally sweat dropped, and hung his head to try to prevent his four younger team mates from seeing the very noticeable shade of red his face had just turned. "Now, now Star," he said in a quite sheepish tone. "This is just one little outing with her, and I'll be helping her chaperone Heaven knows how many little kids. She's not my girlfriend."

"Not yet," Beast Boy said dryly. Cyborg directed a deadpan glare at Beast Boy, who only directed a quite wolfish looking grin back at him, clearly unrepentant.

Starfire giggled, hovered a couple inches off the ground, and spun herself clockwise once before then saying, "Come on friends! We must work especially hard now to make sure we are all prepared for the day of Valentine's when it comes now that Cyborg also has a special friend to celebrate it with!" At that, she started zooming off into the air in the direction of the tower, practically squealing with joy.

Robin sighed happily, and shook his head side to side with a bemused, yet loving smile on his face. "Don't ever change Star," he said to himself. "Don't ever change." Then he turned his head to face his fellow Titans who hadn't yet departed. "Star is right, we should probably be heading home about now."

"You go on ahead Rob," said Cyborg. "Go ahead and catch up with your girlfriend and see if she can fly you back. We'll catch up to you later."

Robin thought to himself. "If you say so. But why?"

"I'm gonna go back to see what I can do about my car," Cyborg explained. "And I'm sure that it wouldn't be too bad for BB and Raven to stick around to see if they can take care of your R-Cycle, and perhaps give me some assistance if I need it."

Robin thought to himself once again. "In that case," he gave his three team mates a thumbs up, a smile on his face. "You go right on ahead." He turned around and started running off in the direction Starfire had flown. "Wait up Star!" he then yelled somewhat belatedly.

Cyborg shook his head side to side, mentally chuckling. "You've really got it bad Rob," he thought to himself. Then he looked back at Beast Boy and Raven. "So, shall we?"

Raven nodded her head in the affirmative.

"Sure," said Beast Boy. He abruptly turned into an Andean condor and flew off into the sky to start searching for the R-Cycle.

"Ok then," said Cyborg. He looked back at Raven. "Well I guess no time like the present, as BB certainly appears to have made clear. Wanna come with me?"

Raven looked in the direction Beast Boy was currently flying, then back at Cyborg, her mind made up. "Actually, I think I'd best go with Beast Boy."

"Very well then," said Cyborg. "You go on ahead. I'll call you guys if I need any help." He turned around and walked off, already activating his scanners to search for his beloved T-Car.

Raven sighed to herself, and looked in the direction of the green condor once more. Even in spite of how genuinely happy he'd been over several moments earlier when Sarah was present, the awfully nightmarish element she'd noticed in his aura had still been present, albeit in a considerably weaker state of existence. And now, it was just as strong, and possibly stronger, then before now that Sarah was gone. And while she was not about to mention it out loud to Cyborg, Robin, or Starfire just yet, she now couldn't help but feel quite worried now about Beast Boy's current state of mind. What none of the other Titans yet knew was that she'd managed to be present in the area where Capricarn had been knocked out and apprehended just in time to witness Beast Boy's unexpectedly managing to survive against the criminal's daring last resort move. And it wasn't until that moment when she herself had finally managed to become aware of something that she was now quite surprised she hadn't noticed any earlier than that moment. And that being said, she had a very worrisome theory about why Beast Boy had been unaffected and just what was currently going on in his regard. It was a theory that she even now hoped wasn't true. But in the event that it was true, then she knew that Beast Boy was most certainly not ok, possibly even worse than she herself suspected he hadn't dared let on. And in that event, she knew it would be very dangerous just as much to her and the other Titans as it would be to Beast Boy for her to continue to keep this matter in the dark. After all, if her theory was correct, dark was the absolute last thing anyone, particularly Beast Boy, currently needed at the moment in the event that her theory was correct.

 **And just like that, another chapter done! Once again, here's to hoping that you all enjoyed and that you leave plenty of feedback! (At the very least, there'd better be AT LEAST 1 review for this chapter by the time I finish the next chapter; if not, no new chapter until that requirement does get fulfilled.) And on that note, I especially hope you liked how I finally gave that 'mystery' woman first introduced in this series all the way back in Night of the Cursed a name to refer to her by (though I'm sure all of you who read the comics (Go! or the original DC comics) probably could easily recognize who she was from a mile away ^_^). And yeah, looks like Cyborg we'll be having a pretty pleasant Valentine's Day ahead of him this year if I do say so myself :). And on another note, I also hope you enjoyed that little (or perhaps not so little) cameo from Amanda Waller. As relatively short her time in this chapter was, I actually quite enjoyed writing that segment of the chapter and I hope you enjoyed reading it! ^_^ That being said, once again, I hope you enjoyed this new chapter and leave plenty of feedback. Again, hope you had fun!**

 **Coming up Next: When the team regroups back at the tower later that day, not only does it not take long at all to see just how hard at work and in anticipation of the Holiday the majority of the main team is, but an actually quite large bit of news regarding the other branches of the team in general come to light as well. But at the same time though, Beast Boy has a small dark cloud of his own hovering around and overshadowing what little happiness he does feel about it, something that Raven most certainly is not comfortable seeing. And for that matter, just what is her little THEORY regarding Beast Boy? Find out next time, on Shadows of Love! ^_^**


	4. Love is in the Air

**What's this?! Another chapter!? Already?! Wow! I must REALLY be on a role! ^_^ That being said, I actually managed to finish writing this chapter yesterday, but only now have I managed to get the proper chance to upload it, so here's to hoping it proves worth the (actually quite short) wait! In this chapter, with the five founders back at the Tower, they soon get quite immersed in work at decorating the tower for the coming holiday. But at the same time though, there's still plenty of reason for worry where Beast Boy's currently concerned. And for that matter, just what IS wrong with our favorite shape shifter? Find out now, in this new chapter! Here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy!**

 **A/N: Just to get this out of the way, I do not own Teen Titans, nor anything else in this chapter that is copyrighted and owned by someone else. That being said, onward with the fic!**

 **Chapter 3:**

 **Love is in the Air**

About an hour later, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven finally arrived back at Titans Tower, with Raven carefully hovering both the R-Cycle and the T-Car over to a proper place to set them down with her shadowy telekinetic energy. Cyborg was in good spirits. Raven and Beast Boy, however, not quite so much. Raven in particular, while not outwardly showing it, was still feeling quite worried about Beast Boy's current emotions; or to be more accurate, his apparent _lack_ of emotions.

Even now, in spite of what little genuine emotional feedback she'd managed to detect from him with her powers, it was all overshadowed to this very moment by a very unnerving mass of emotional numbness that was even now amassing within him, particularly around his heart, in the form of what seemed like dark shadowy clouds. She mentally sighed. She hadn't wanted to belief it, but she now had more than enough proof to know that she could no longer deny it. Her theory was correct. She carefully levitated the two vehicles the remainder of the distance necessary to reach the spot she planned to have them dropped off at, and then gently had them placed down on the ground within said area. She knew that it would be of just as much importance to get everything else taken care of before she broke the news to the other Titans.

"Hoowee," said Cyborg. "Sure looking forward to seeing what Robin and Star have managed to do to the place while we were gone."

Raven let a small smile that didn't reach her eyes cross her face. Beast Boy, however, didn't show any outward sign of emotional response to these words at all, much to Raven's discomfort.

Still unaware of this matter, Cyborg walked over to the elevator that served as the front door. "Well guys, we're home. Let's get inside and see if there's anything left for us to help the lucky couple out with." The elevator opened, and Cyborg entered. Raven hurriedly hovered over to join the bionic teen in the elevator. Beast Boy, however, briefly remained standing where he was; but then he let out a low snarl (unnervingly while still in human form), and he calmly walked into the elevator as well.

After what felt like an hour to the concerned Raven and the seemingly emotionally numb Beast Boy, the elevator came to a stop and opened up at their destination. The three Titans made their way straight to the common room. Upon entry, even Beast Boy managed to let out a small spark of genuine pleasure at the sight of what lay before them. Starfire had most certainly not been kidding earlier when she'd started on her way back to the Tower. If the Grizzwald family treated Valentine's Day with the same degree of enthusiasm as they did Christmas, then the Titans were quite certain that virtually the entirety of their house's interior would be just as elaborately decorated and over the top as the common room currently appeared to be. And even so, Starfire still appeared to not be satisfied as she was still hovering around in the room carrying an armload of random unplaced Valentine's Day décor and trying to see if she could find anywhere to put them, while also asking Robin's opinion on various locations within the common room.

"Um Star," said Robin. "I'm pretty sure we've done quite enough decorating in the common room." Evidently, even the Boy Wonder seemed to think that Starfire was starting to go a little overboard in her decorating spree. "We don't have all those decorations just to have them all placed in this room you know."

"I know Robin," said Starfire. "But surely you understand the gravity of this particular Valentine's Day! We must have this tower as appropriately spectacular in regards to how well decorated it is!"

"I understand Star," Robin said patiently. "But please, trust me, the common room is perfectly as we've now currently got it."

"I certainly hope so," said Cyborg. Starfire and Robin turned their heads to face their three friends, who were all directing varying looks at different areas of the common room. "With the amount of decorations you've already got set up in here, I'd say it will be a miracle if there's any room for us to hang around in here, let alone to avoid accidentally crashing into or slipping on some random decoration."

"Not to mention the fact that this is the only room to appear to even be decorated _at all_." Beast Boy then commented dryly while directing a quite dismayed looking face towards what looked like a piñata in the shape of two intertwined alien-looking snake-like creatures with vulture-like wings and tiny deer-like antlers dangling from the ceiling not too far above the kitchen sink, a decoration he was quite certain he'd _never_ seen in the tower before.

Robin appeared to have a grateful look on his face at how the other boys among the founding branch had sided with him. Starfire, meanwhile, now had a wide eyed look of what looked like a mix between shock and horror. "Oh no!" she screamed. "I completely forgot about all the other areas! I must rectify this immediately!" She zoomed out through the main door to the common room and off to somewhere else within the tower before the three newly arrived other Titans had a chance to even get a glimpse of exactly where she was going upon exiting the common room.

Robin, clearly now more than a little unnerved, hurriedly ran past the other three Titans and into the hallway to pursue his now seemingly quite frantic girlfriend. "Starfire wait up!" he yelled.

The other three Titans just stared blankly in the direction of the still open main doorway to the common room, quite uncertain as to what to say.

"Dang," said Cyborg. "Star's really got Robin beat this Valentine's Day season."

"No kidding," Beast Boy said dryly with a roll of his eyes.

Raven directed a look of concern towards Beast Boy, then shook her head to clear her thoughts. "This matter can wait just another few minutes or so more," she thought to herself. After all, as she was now reasoning to herself, it would be considerably easier for Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg to pay attention and truly grasp the gravity of the situation if they weren't distracted by other things, such as the current Tower decorating craze. "Well we might as well see if we can help." She then pointed at a quite massive bunch of boxes that were still filled with Valentine's Day decorations. "Let's get to work."

. . . . .

About a couple hours later, Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven were lying around on the sofa in the common room. All four of them looked quite exhausted and worn out from all the work they'd done in decorating the tower.

"Man I'm tired," said Robin.

"Join the club," Raven agreed.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Beast Boy grumbled. He closed his eyes and let off a very unnervingly lion-like yawn. "Man, who'd have guessed that decorating for Valentine's Day could leave someone _this_ tired?"

"I will admit," said Starfire. "Considering how we have never suffered this effect in previous years, perhaps I may have gone a little over the board."

Robin placed his hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. "It's ok Star," he reassured the Tamaranean. "Trust me, with all the work that's been done today in getting the Tower ready, I'm sure it all prove quite worthwhile by the time Valentine's Day actually arrives this year." And indeed, Robin had to admit that he was actually quite certain now that the entire tower was now more than properly decorated for the coming holiday. "Having an excited girlfriend around this time of year certainly does come with its perks," he thought to himself.

"You know guys," said Beast Boy, who was now directing a partially concerned and partially annoyed glare towards the main entrance to the common room. "Is anyone else wondering where Cyborg is right now?"

The other three Titans thought to themselves, and then they realized just like Beast Boy that Cyborg wasn't present in the room with them. "Where is he?" Robin thought to himself.

Then the four Titans within the common room heard footsteps coming from in the main hallway outside the common room accompanied by Cyborg's familiar voice, and they all got their answer. Sure enough, the common room doors opened up and Cyborg came walking in, his face directed towards his left arm, which was positioned in a way that clearly indicated that he had the video phone inside it activated.

"Don't you worry Bee," said Cyborg. "I'll make sure to let them know real soon. Thanks again." He shut off his video phone and lowered his left arm before looking over at his fellow founders, all of whom had varying degrees of interest on their faces. "Just got off the phone with Bee," said Cyborg. "And I've got some good news from her."

The phrase 'good news' was all Starfire needed to hear, and she bolted up into an erect seating position. "Ooh, ooh, what is it friend?" the Tamaranean eagerly asked.

Cyborg smiled. "Looks like this year we're all in luck." He folded his arms across his chest. "This year, the entire extended team could very well be able to drop by and visit us this Valentine's Day."

At the sound of this, Robin couldn't help but smile. "Well that's nice to hear," said the Boy Wonder. He had to admit, it would be nice to see everyone in person and figure out from them how everything was going. After all, the entire extended team hadn't met up together in the same area since the previous May immediately after the Brotherhood of Evil's defeat and the effective birth of the entire extended team. The way he saw it, it was about high time all the Titans got the chance to gather together and trade stories once more.

Cyborg chuckled. "I know right?" Cyborg rubbed his hand across his head as if rubbing it through nonexistent hair. "And while we're at it, I'm sure looking forward to seeing who may have gotten inspired to follow the same route as you and Star over the last few months."

Robin felt a small smirk come on his face. "Oh really?" he asked in a slightly teasing manner.

"You betcha!" Cyborg responded. "I mean hey, you and Star are the team's biggest power couple, and all the others in the team seem to be just as big on the whole business as all the civilian fans. And even without that in mind, with Aqualad and Terra having paired up two months after you and Kid Flash and Jinx having already gotten things set up a month or two before you were even willing to openly support the idea of dating between team mates, let alone to finally hook up with Star, I wouldn't be surprised if other members of the team ended up getting inspired to take a shot at the whole romance business with each other."

Robin's grin widened, Starfire giggled, and Raven rolled her eyes while feeling somewhat touched on the inside. Beast Boy, however, suddenly seemed to take an interest in a small rip on the sofa area he was sitting against, a venomous bestial glare on his face, and his hands clenching quietly into fists. Miraculously enough, Raven was once again the only Titan to notice, though admittedly she only noticed this particular instance out of the corner of her eyes.

Cyborg chuckled once more, and then looked over at the central front window that doubled as the TV. "Well I don't know about you guys, but I say we start celebrating early with a movie!" Starfire practically squealed in delight at the idea, and Robin gave his second-in-command a thumbs up. Raven let a small nervous smile come on her face, clearly hoping to somewhat allow the mood to stay brightened.

Then Beast Boy stretched his arms up towards the ceiling, letting out another yawn in the process. "Actually Cyborg, mind if I sit out on the movies this time? I really worked by butt off with all that decorating, and I think I could really use a nap right now."

Cyborg nodded, clearly not seeing anything wrong. "Sure thing man, you go on ahead. I can admit, now that you've mentioned it, you certainly do look tired. Go ahead man. We'll have other movie days."

"Thank you," said Beast Boy. He got up from the sofa, and then tiredly and slowly walked past Cyborg, through the main doors to the common room and down through the hallway to reach his bedroom. As this happened, Raven kept a tiny empathic lock on him as he continued to make his way through the tower corridors. It wasn't until she sensed him finally entering his bedroom when she cut the connection.

"Alright guys," said Cyborg. "Let's get it started! Anything in particular you'd like to watch?"

In that instant, right as Starfire and Robin seemed practically seconds away from responding, Raven made her move. Now was as good of a time as ever. "Wait." The other three Titans with her heard this, and turned their heads to her, confusion on their faces. "There's something I need to talk to you guys about first."

Her fellow founders looked each other in the eyes, then back at Raven. "Well ok then," said Cyborg. "But why didn't you bring this up sooner?" Robin and Starfire nodded in agreement.

Raven took a deep breath, and then exhaled. There was no turning back now. "I'm not entirely certain if it's a good idea to bring this particular matter up in Beast Boy's immediate presence just yet."

 _That_ was enough to get the other three Tians interested. "Is something wrong?" Robin asked.

"Yes please Raven, tell us," said Starfire. "Is something the matter with friend Beast Boy?"

"What's going on Raven? Tell me. If there's something wrong with the grass stain, I definitely need to know," Cyborg agreed.

Raven took another deep breath, and then exhaled. "There may very well be something wrong," Raven responded. "And if my theory is correct, we could all be in big trouble."

Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg leaned forward, listening intently.

"Have any of you noticed anything unusual, or at the very least different, about Beast Boy lately?"

Raven's three friends looked each other in the eyes. "Not really," said Robin.

"Don't think so," said Cyborg.

Starfire shook her head side to side, her eyes closed.

Raven sighed. "Well I have." She directed her gaze directly at her three fellow Titans. "And quite frankly, from what I've managed to notice over the course of just this day alone, I'm both surprised and regretful that I didn't notice it sooner."

At the sound of this, Cyborg seemed to become even more concerned. "What happened?"

Raven mentally prepared herself once more. "You are all aware of how my empathic abilities work right?" Her three friends nodded. "Well from what I've managed to gather, the abilities of most emotional vampires seem to somewhat rely on a similar principle."

"So?" Robin asked.

"At the time Beast Boy knocked Capricarn out and allowed him to be apprehended, I was able to shake off the effects of getting temporarily blinded by the spot light I got flashed with in time to arrive in the alley they were in and witness Capricarn's attempt to escape from Beast Boy." She took another deep breath, and then exhaled. "As it turns out, Capricarn is a type of emotional vampire capable of one particularly dangerous trick. By concentrating enough energy into a single strike at the area around the heart, emotional vampires capable of this trick are able to instantaneously absorb and extract all emotional energy, favored food and otherwise, from a victim all at once; stopping their heart and frying their brain in the process."

At the sound of this, the eyes of the other three Titans widened. "However," said Raven. "In spite of receiving a direct hit, Beast Boy was able to survive."

Cyborg and Starfire exhaled in relief in a clearly instinctive act. Robin, however, had a feeling that there was more to the matter then Raven had currently let on. "I have a feeling that there's a 'however' factor on the way," he then said.

Raven nodded her head in confirmation. "Indeed there is." She looked back at her three friends directly. "Surviving an experience of being on the receiving end of such a trick . . . that shouldn't be at all possible. And in the event that it does happen, it's just as much a bad thing in the long run as it is a good thing in the short run."

"How?" Cyborg asked. Starfire, likewise, looked unnerved.

"At the same time that Capricarn was in the process of subjecting Beast Boy to his last resort trick," Raven began, "I was unwittingly exposed to Beast Boy's empathic aura in full force . . . and I detected nothing from him."

The eyes of the other three Titans widened. "Nothing?" Robin asked. "Nothing at all?"

Raven nodded her head. "Nothing," she confirmed. "Not even a tiny spark of any emotion whatsoever." She hung her head. "And over the course of all the time that's passed since that attack and Capricarn's apprehension, Beast Boy's only continued to give off that kind of feedback. Granted, he's managed to give off a tiny spark of genuine emotion every now and then, but they've always been overshadowed by that terrifying emotional numbness inside him. And this numbness is seriously strong; to the point that it's taken on the form of a gigantic mass of shadows encasing his heart and the vast majority of the surrounding area in my empathic senses." Raven sighed again. "And what's worse, this didn't start today. With something of this level, it never starts over the course of a single day or night. From the level he's currently appeared to have reached, I'd say it may have started sometime last month at the latest, and possibly sometime last October of November at the very earliest. Don't even ask how I managed to not notice this until today."

The other three Titans looked each other in the eyes, clearly nervous. "Do you know how that happened?" Robin asked.

"Yes and no," Raven responded. "I am aware of the process that would lead to this happening, but I'm uncertain as to just what served as the stimulus that caused Beast Boy to trigger this process inside him." She lifted her head. "As I'm sure you in particular would be aware Robin," Raven began, "even an ordinary civilian without any psionic or similarly mind-based abilities can guard and block their emotions and minds from telepaths and other beings with similar mind-based powers."

Robin nodded his head in agreement.

"Well as appears to have happened with Beast Boy," Raven continued, "he appears to have, without even realizing it, managed to put up such strong barriers and defenses around his emotions that he's almost completely severed both my capability of sensing his emotions as well as his own emotional capabilities." She took a deep breath, and then sighed once more. "To put it simply, he's putting so much focus into guarding his emotions that he's now put himself at risk of being completely unable to express any emotion whatsoever."

"You mean like you?" Cyborg asked in a clearly jovial manner.

All of two seconds passed before Cyborg found himself quite regretting his words. Starfire was directing a look at him that made her look as if she were on the verge of tears. Robin, had his eyes narrowed, and the rest of his face conveying a clear 'really?' message. Raven, however, had an absolutely _nightmarish_ death glare on her face directed towards the bionic teen hero. " _I'm serious_ ," Raven almost growled. "I may keep my emotions guarded a large majority of the time and have difficulty expressing them properly, but I keep them guarded at a survivable degree, do it entirely consciously, and am more than capable of expressing them and letting down my guard every now and then." She took a deep breath, and then exhaled once more; but this time in a mixture of both willing herself to continue and in trying to reign in her irritation at Cyborg's not entirely appropriate or well-timed attempt at a joke. "Beast Boy, however, is unconsciously keeping his emotions so strongly guarded that he could end up even worse than me in regard to emotions."

She looked back at her three friends once more. Now was the time to lay down the final powerful cards in regard to what she now had to say. "And if we don't find a way to somehow get him to let his guard down, and I mean _down_ , then I don't even want to think of the trouble that could unfold."

"Why?" Cyborg asked. "What could end up happening?"

Raven took another deep breath. "I already said that he's so far still capable of letting off small sparks and glimmers of genuine emotion every now and then. However, if he continues to keep up all these shadows that he's currently unwittingly amassed around his heart and emotions, then he will over time become less and less empathetic to the point that he will literally be _incapable_ of expressing _any_ emotion whatsoever. He will _literally_ be an empty, emotionless, unfeeling shell." She hung her head. "And that's not the worst part either."

"Say what?!" Cyborg yelled.

"No," Starfire whimpered.

"Are you serious?" Robin asked. "How could things possibly get any worse after that last bit you just described?"

Raven took one final deep breath, and then exhaled with a hint of finality. Here was the moment of truth. "Are any of you familiar with Aerys II?"

Starfire raised her eyebrow in confusion, but Cyborg and Robin's eyes widened in horrified recognition. "The Mad King?" Robin asked.

Raven nodded her head.

"What about him?" Cyborg asked.

"As has been somewhat potentially could happen to Daenerys without Tyrion around to keep her grounded in the TV show or any other proper advisor in the books, and almost certainly likely happened to Aerys himself, this may very well be what is now happening to Beast Boy."

"Please," said Starfire. "Who is this Mad King of which you speak?"

"He's this character from a book series on Earth called _A Song of Ice and Fire_ , and the TV show based off of it called _Game of Thrones_ ," Robin explained. He turned his head to face his girlfriend. "And trust me, he was not a pleasant character."

"No kidding," Cyborg agreed. "That dude developed a very unhealthy obsession with this very dangerous substance from the universe these stories take place in called Wild Fire. It is a nasty oil that explosively erupts in violent green flames when ignited. And not only is this fire extremely hot and painful, but it can't be extinguished with water or any other quick acting extinguishing method, and has to be allowed to eventually go out on its own over time, kind of like the real-life historical alchemical material it's based on called Greek Fire."

"And not only that," Robin continued. "But at one point, when this obsession, combined with several other not particularly pleasant actions carried out under his perfectly willing consent and order, led to a massive rebellion against him, his response? 'Burn them all'. And by that, his intended order was for all the caches of Wild Fire he kept within multiple secret storage chambers to be ignited; essentially both destroying the entire royal capital, and also killing off all his subjects, both loyal _and_ disloyal. He was _that_ insane."

Starfire's eyes couldn't have possibly been any wider than they were upon hearing all this. "I see," Starfire said nervously.

Raven also looked quite unnerved. "I couldn't have said it better myself."

Then Cyborg managed to connect the two major dots of the equation. "So basically you're saying," he began. "That if we don't find some way to get Beast Boy aware of all this and get him to do away with all this high guard he's got around his emotions, we could end up having a 'Mad King' level psychopath on our hands?"

Raven nodded her head gravely. "Again, this is only a theory I've got so far," she then said. "But so far, I've received no evidence whatsoever that would point against it being correct."

The other three Titans looked each other in the eyes, and then back at Raven. "What do we do?" Robin asked.

"You heard the man," said Cyborg. "There's gotta be some way to get Beast Boy to let his guard down before it makes him go 'burn them all' level crazy. And if you know what it is, now's the time for us to hear it."

"Yes, please," Starfire agreed. "We must help friend Beast Boy. How do we save him from this?"

Raven took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Right now, I need just a tiny bit of time to think on that. I can tell you now that it would be easier if we knew just what triggered him into putting up such high guard. But it is not impossible to get him to let it down without knowing the triggering stimulus. But still, I need some time, hopefully the rest of the day at _maximum_ , to think of a proper plan. And I can only hope, and so can you, that by the time I do manage to think up such a plan, that it won't be too late."

. . . . .

Meanwhile, in Beast Boy's room, the green shape shifter in question was lying around on the top bunk of his bunkbed, glaring numbly at the headboard, wide awake. Granted, he had been telling the truth about feeling tired and in need of a nap. But at the moment, in spite of how tired he felt, he just could not get himself to fall asleep. The thoughts on his mind that were even now burning with crystal clarity at the forefront of his thoughts were still too strong.

He directed a look towards the calendar hanging on the wall next to his closet, his eyes narrowing at the sight of the big red circle he'd drawn in marker around the Valentine's Day square. Right now, what little happiness and excitement he did have for the coming holiday was almost completely overshadowed by a blazing venomous sense of bitterness and derision. Any time before Halloween last year, he would have never felt the way he currently felt, assuming you could even truly call it 'felt'. However, at one point on Halloween, while he'd been in the midst of his part of the yearly patrol that the Titans went on for that holiday, he'd managed to overhear a group of teenage boys talking about him, and they hadn't been saying nice things about him either. However, one thing he'd heard them say that had really gotten under his skin that time was some comments they'd made about him not only being ugly, but that Terra, all the civilian girls he'd hung around with, and even all the Titans only hung around with him and pretended to like or be happy with being around him out of pity. At most other times, this wouldn't have affected him. However, he'd had a small argument with Raven not too long before the Halloween night patrol that time that had left him in a particularly unhappy and unwelcome mood; and the sound of what these boys had now said had only served to start reinforcing his newfound suspicions. Then he'd overheard other civilians talking in a similar tangent, with comments ranging from Starfire and several of the other Titans looking abnormal but at least still attractive to making comments about wondering why Beast Boy wasn't in a zoo all the way to him looking like a monster out of their worst nightmares. And after spending almost the entirety of his patrol seemingly hearing nothing but all that and others of a similar nature, he'd been all too eager to get back to the tower and sleep it off. But over the course of the days and months that had followed up to today, he'd never quite managed to get it all out of his mind. And from what he'd managed to notice going on among the other Titans, he'd received very little to assuage his fear and suspicion.

He then narrowed his eyes and snarled once more. Truth be told, he'd actually already been aware of the other Titans within the team's extended branches coming over to visit this Valentine's Day several weeks before Cyborg had learned about it from Bumblebee and broken the news that afternoon. He had become aware of the matter early himself thanks to Terra and Aqualad talking about it together on the Titans' private social network account. And of course, Beast Boy just had to always be the only founding member these days who ever got the time to go onto that site anymore. And not only had he become aware of the upcoming visit, but he'd also become aware over the course of all the months that had come before that fateful week he'd gotten the news, of various other couples that appeared to have managed to pop up among the Titans seemingly in exactly the way Cyborg had theorized.

Indeed, quite a large number of Titans among the current roster appeared to have been inspired by the successfully blossomed and still smoothly functioning relationships between Robin and Starfire, Kid Flash and Jinx, and Aqualad and Terra. Among the quite short Titans Central branch located in Keystone City not too far away from Central City, the only members among the teams currently only three members that were both in a relationship and living in the same headquarters together were Kid Flash and Jinx.

Among the good deal larger Titans South branch located somewhere around Florida or so, he was pretty sure there weren't any intact couples living together, but he'd heard rumors that there was something building up between active Titans South member Pantha and the Titans North leader, Red Star. And he'd also heard that Wildebeest seemed to be both quite interested and possibly even actively supporting the idea.

As for the Titans North branch, there was definitely more than one intact official couple living among its members. For starters, he'd heard that Hot Spot and Argent, who had apparently been close old friends long before both becoming Titans, and even before gaining their own individual powers, had decided to take things to the next level just one week after Aqualad and Terra had publically announced their own relationship status. He'd also learned that Jericho and Kole, who were both two years younger than the four founders younger than Cyborg and were able to live together with Gnarrk at the Titans North headquarters thanks to some arrangements that Herald and Cyborg had managed to set up in regard to ability to visit Kole and Gnarrk's old home in the subterranean world they'd previously lived in, had managed to romantically connect while hanging out together in the weeks after the Brotherhood of Evil's defeat before then apparently starting a romantic relationship that they'd managed to keep hidden until finally deciding to let it be revealed to the other Titans following the combined success of the other couples that had been formed.

Then came Titans East. He already knew about Aqualad and Terra. But apparently, they weren't the only members romantically linked either. Turns out, and quite frankly he was surprised that Cyborg didn't appear to know at this point, Bumblebee had been one of the first Titans to say yes to taking a shot at the 'more than friends' level with someone, and her apparent boyfriend was Herald, the leader of Titans Central, who'd managed to get off to quite a strong friendship with her over the course of hanging out together at the Tower in the days immediately following the defeat of the Brotherhood of Evil. And as for Speedy, while he still hadn't said a single word to confirm whether or not he had a girlfriend, or any romantic interest for that matter, he had said several times over the past few days that he had 'plans' for this year's Valentine's Day. And Beast Boy didn't need to be as skilled of a detective as Robin to understand the subtext he had a feeling was hidden within Speedy's mentioning of said 'plans'.

And all this, combined with Robin and Starfire being the Titans' power couple as well as Cyborg appearing to have potentially got himself a date and a new girlfriend in Sarah Simms, had Beast Boy feeling more than a little under the weather. And of course, the fact that all those couples would be coming over to visit was now only strengthening his current bleak mood that had come upon him following those stray comments he'd been unlucky enough to overhear. And he'd refused to talk about any of it for fear of getting direct confirmation of his fears from his supposed 'friends' as well as a strong desire to not make himself look weak.

Granted, there were still plenty of other Titans that he was quite sure weren't in romantic relationships, but he was not entirely certain that any of them would really prove all that helpful in cheering him up. For starters Mas, Menos, Timmy Tantrum, Teether, and Melvin were all still much too young to really be all that interested in romance, and the latter three currently still seemed to be more comfortable around Raven than any of the other older members of the Titans. Thunder and Lightning were both a little too happy about their own status as bachelors and not entirely certain as to whether they'd be accompanying their team mates due to uncertainty over whether or not there'd be anyone able to substitute for their team while they were away. Bushido always put a little too much focus on training and very rarely ever devoted much time to leisure and pleasure. Kilowatt was more of a loner and very difficult for any of the Titans to get to know. Gnark and Wildebeest were a little too happy in providing support for the confirmed relationship between Kole and Jericho and the alleged possible one between Pantha and Red Star to really be all that helpful in putting his mind off of such matters (though Gnark had admittedly made it very clear that he was serving the role of protective big brother for Kole and was keeping his eye out on Jericho). And as for Wonder Girl, he snarled in derision. Considering how long it had been since she'd ever initiated any form of contact with the other members of the team ever since she'd first joined as an independent free-lance member, he highly doubted that she would show up, and he quite frankly doubted she'd only make him feel even more bitter by commenting on her own views of the matter; views that he was certain she shared with her rumored older cousin a couple times removed. Finally, there was Raven. But given her lack of interest she'd shown for Valentine's Day and everything else romance-related he could think of, he was quite certain she wouldn't be entirely all that helpful in the way he needed.

Beast Boy sighed, now directing an apparently wistful gaze at the calendar. "It's not fair," he thought to himself. Then, slowly but surely, his eyes narrowed into a glare, and he turned his head to face the headboard once more. "It's not fair," he thought to himself once more, but this time with a considerably angrier sounding mental tone. Then he slowly directed his gaze down towards his pillow, a vicious glare and silent snarl forming on his face and his hands clenching into fists. "Its. Not. Fair," he hissed. And then, with a low snarl of rage, he slammed his head upon his pillow and unleashed a bitter animalistic roar of rage and despair that, surprisingly enough, was almost completely drowned out by the presence of the pillow and the walls that made up the shape shifter's room. Love may have been in the air for a vast majority of the Titans, but Beast Boy was not feeling it, not at all. And in this particular case, that would prove to be especially bad news if something wasn't done in the near future.

 **And just like that, another chapter done! Here's me hoping that you all enjoyed it and will leave plenty of feedback! And once again, it is MANDATORY that I receive at least one review for this new chapter before I post the next one. Again, hope you all enjoyed this new chapter!**

 **Coming up next: The very next day, Raven has a plan for how to hopefully get Beast Boy out of his dangerously black mood (assuming you can even really call it a mood), and she and the other Titans set it into action. Will they succeed? And if they do, will the end result entirely be what they'd hoped for? Find out in the next chapter, of Shadows of Love! :)**


	5. An Unlucky Bachelor

**Hoowee! Good God you've probably been waiting a pretty long while! But nonetheless, here's my newest chapter! Or more accurately, one of my newest chapters. I've actually got another one completed alongside this one and yet another one not too far away from joining them in their status as complete. However, it wasn't until now that I finally got both A: WiFi access and B: a convenient moment in which I could post chapters. With that being said, here's to DEFINITELY hoping you guys read, review, and enjoy! ^_^ And in this long awaited chapter, Raven has managed to come up with a plan to get Beast Boy to let down his unhealthily high emotional guard and prevent him from reaching 'Mad King/Burn them all' level insanity. Will this plan work? And even if it does, will the results that unfold be entirely as pleasant as hoped for? Let's find out shall we?**

 **A/N: But first, I once again remind you that I do not own Teen Titans, or anything else DC based for that matter. Now once more, on with the fic!**

 **Chapter 4:**

 **An Unlucky Bachelor**

The very next day, at around 9:00 in the morning, four out of five of the founding Titans were gathered in the common room. Each one appeared to be busy with their own little task. Robin was calmly sitting on one of the chairs at the kitchen island, taking sips of his coffee and reading the newspaper. Starfire was in the kitchen proper and appeared to be in the midst of giving Silky a bath in the sink, something that the adorable mutated moth larva seemed to enjoy quite a lot compared to the average dog or cat. Cyborg was on the sofa watching the TV, and seemingly randomly flipping through the channels in an effort to find something he saw fit to watch. Raven, meanwhile, was sitting cross-legged nearby one of the monitors with the supercomputers, her nose firmly embedded in a book. The book in question, _Anne of Green Gables_ , was most certainly not one of her favorites. In fact, she quite honestly wondered how the book had even been in her room in the first place considering both the fact that it was not really in her tastes and the fact that it had _Starfire's_ name written on a 'property of' sticker that had been placed within the interior of the front cover. But she'd felt that she'd needed something to read over the course of this current moment, particularly for when Beast Boy arrived, and she knew that there was at least a slight chance of arousing suspicion from the changeling if he saw her so relatively abruptly going back to her room and returning to the common room with a completely different book. And if the plan she'd managed to think up and set up with Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg the previous night before bedtime was to work, giving Beast Boy reason for suspicion, and with that potentially further heightened guard, was the last thing anyone could afford. And so, for the sake of her plan, and Beast Boy's well being, she even now continued to groan and bear the experience of having to practically force herself to read _Anne of Green Gables_.

The plan in question, Raven actually still wasn't entirely certain would work. But at the current moment, she felt that it was currently better to at least try _something_ then to run the risk of letting Beast Boy's condition get worse by trying to either determine the guilty stimulus behind his condition or think up some other plan that could take even longer to come up with. And so, she and the other three Titans present in the common room at that moment continued to put on their little show that would hopefully allow Beast Boy to be somewhat 'at ease' upon sight of the seemingly routine and perfectly normal atmosphere going on in the common room if he were to catch sight of them at any point in the near future.

Then the four Titans heard the main doors to the common room open, and they surreptitiously directed a glance towards said doors out of the corners of their eyes. Sure enough, Beast Boy was now walking through the doors, apparently having at some point recently returned from a flight around the bay that he'd said he'd go on immediately after breakfast. And in the process, none of the other Titans had even seen him come back to the tower.

But nevertheless, Beast Boy was back, and so far he didn't seem to be acting as if he'd noticed anything out of the ordinary. And that was a factor that Raven felt quite grateful for; because even at this very moment, she could now very clearly detect the glaring emotional numbness emanating from within him. In fact, she could almost swear that it actually now seemed from her empathic point of view as if there were clouds and tendrils of shadows and smoke pulsing and emanating from him and forming a mass vortex-shaped aura of darkness around him.

In fact, now that Raven had opened their eyes to the matter, the other three founders themselves could now notice how very different an aura Beast Boy seemed to have about him compared to the Beast Boy they were familiar with. In fact, even at this very moment as the shape shifter very uncharacteristically slowly walked into the common room, with a very unnerving blank glare on his face for good measure, he didn't say a single word, and his fists remained apparently clenched. In that instant, Starfire decided that it was now a good time to put an end to Silky's bath and have him moved over to a different area of the Tower. She was that unnerved now by Beast Boy's presence in the area while he was in his current mood . . . assuming you could even really call it a mood. And this action she indeed did do. And thus, for what seemed like an eternity, Raven and the two boys who'd been let in the know in regard to Beast Boy's condition were left alone with the shape shifter.

For a moment, Beast Boy just stood completely still in the center of the room, seemingly uncertain of what to do. Then, with a throaty and raspy sounding exhalation, he moved on over to take a position at the kitchen sink. Upon reaching the sink, he spent another minute or so just standing at the sink with his back turned to Robin before he then reached over to his right, picked up what looked like a coffee mug, and proceeded to fill it up with cold water. The changeling turned off the sink, took a large sip from the mug, and then slowly lowered the mug onto the counter before letting off a very raspy and chilling sounding sigh. At the sound of this, Robin discreetly looked over at Raven, silently asking, 'Are you sure you want to go through with all this?'

Raven nodded her head up and down in an equally discreet fashion. Unpleasant as things currently seemed to be and potentially capable of escalating into, it would just have to be a price to be paid for Beast Boy's sake. For another couple minutes, the Robin, Raven, and Cyborg remained silent while waiting to see if Beast Boy would do anything else. Aside from another small swig from his mug of cold water, followed by another chilling sounding sigh, the changeling did nothing.

Then Robin decided that he'd waited long enough, and he directed another glance at Raven, silently asking if it was now ok to properly initiate the plan. Raven nodded her head up and down to signal 'yes'. Robin nodded back, mentally took a deep breath, and turned his head towards Beast Boy, who even now still had his back turned away from the Boy Wonder. The plan was somewhat simple from the right perspective. As it stood, it would be up to Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire, with potential help from Raven depending on how things worked out, to continuously get Beast Boy's attention and see if they could get him to emit even a tiny hint of a genuine emotion for Raven to detect with her powers. And in the event that this proved successful, they were to try to keep at it and see if they could somehow get their green friend to let down more and more of his emotional guard to the point of sufficiently allowing it to collapse completely and allow him to be at a safe emotional level once more.

"Nice to see you back Beast Boy," said Robin.

Beast Boy's response? A raspy sigh.

Undeterred and not in the mood to let this one little disheartening response from Beast Boy cause him to lose hope, Robin merely nodded his head and said, "So, I noticed that things seem to be pretty quiet today at the moment crime-wise and I thought Cyborg and I could perhaps have a little tournament in the arena brawl feature of the Mutant Madness game later this evening. You're free to take part in it with us if you want."

This time, Beast Boy didn't immediately respond. However, from the way his head tilted slightly to his left with his right ear rising upward, it appeared more as if he were thinking and considering the suggestion as opposed to just resignedly accepting the fact that Robin had spoken to him. Then the shape shifter shrugged. "Maybe," he said.

Robin and Cyborg looked over at Raven, who gestured for them to keep at it. Though she hadn't quite yet detected any recognizable genuine emotion coming from Beast Boy, she was certain that Beast Boy's reaction to Robin's most recent comment was good reason to be hopeful for good progress.

Cyborg decided to take a turn at it. "You're free to join me here on the sofa right now if you want. Quite honestly, I think I could use a little help picking a channel and finding a good show to watch. Willing to let you try to help if you want."

Beast Boy thought to himself, and for a very brief moment, Raven could almost feel as if she could see a tiny wrinkle in his terrifyingly dark and numb aura of emotional guardedness. Then the entire aura reaffirmed back to its earlier state. "I'll think about it," said the shapeshifter, raising up his mug as if to emphasize a point. "Still a little thirsty right now."

Robin and Cyborg looked at each other, then at Raven, both clearly asking for a status update. Raven gestured for them to continue, and they started thinking to figure out something else they could say at the moment. Then Robin managed to catch something interesting out of the corner of his eye that was on the newspaper segment he currently had the paper flipped to, and he smiled. "You know Beast Boy," said the Boy Wonder. "I noticed right here in the newspaper today that the zoo's allowing for free Valentine's Day discounts and will be open for one extra hour every day this entire week."

For about one or two minutes, Raven, Robin, and Cyborg closely watched Beast Boy, who now appeared to have gotten into the exact same position he'd assumed when Robin had suggested for him to take part in the Mutant Madness Arena Brawl tournament. And this time, Raven once again detected a small wrinkle in his aura, but this one was slightly larger than the previous one she'd thought she'd detected earlier. Then she detected one or two more wrinkles appearing in the aura as Beast Boy then said, "Go on."

"Well," said Cyborg, clearly catching on to where Robin was going. "We've all noticed how much you enjoy visiting the zoo. And forgive me if this sounds presumptuous, but we thought perhaps today, or at some point this week, we could all go spend a day at the zoo together, just the five of us." For a brief moment, Cyborg let silence follow his suggestion. Then his grin widened. "Maybe even more than once this week."

"That ought to get some sort of emotional reaction out of him," Robin and Cyborg thought to themselves. They knew quite well, as did the other Titans, that Beast Boy _loved_ visiting the Jump City Zoo. If there were anything that they could think of right now that would get Beast Boy to set out in the right direction for letting down his unhealthily high emotional guard, it would be what they'd currently suggested. They surreptitiously directed their glances towards Raven, silently asking for a report.

Raven directed her empathic senses towards Beast Boy once more, and found herself mentally smiling at the sight of what appeared to be a whopping 17 wrinkles in the inner portion of his aura. And not only were those wrinkles present, but they'd also burst like seams to reveal tiny, but still bright, glowing sparks of genuine pleasure. In fact, the outer vortex-shaped segment of his aura that she could detect with her empathic senses now appeared to be quite noticeably transparent. Her mental smile reached her face. Clearly they were making progress. She silently reported this to Robin and Cyborg with a nod of her head. And then, as if to further seal the deal, Beast Boy then said with a noticeable, yet still somewhat small, tint of genuine happiness in his voice, "That certainly does sound appealing."

At the sound of this remark from Beast Boy, the other three Titans looked each other in the eyes, smiles on their faces. It now clearly appeared that perhaps they now had a pretty good shot at resolving the whole issue right then and there, as long as they kept progressing as smoothly as they currently were.

Then Starfire came back in the room, clearly having managed to find an appropriate place to leave Silky, and a wide joyous smile came on her face at both the sight of her friends smiling and the apparent progress that had currently been made in regard to helping Beast Boy out of his supernaturally unhealthy funk. "Good day friend Beast Boy! I trust you are well?"

Beast Boy let out a small noise that Raven could have sworn sounded like a low chuckle of glee, and she detected another ten wrinkles popping up in his inner aura while the entirety of the outer portion of it just flat out vanished entirely. It now seemed that, with Starfire's arrival, even more progress was going to be made. "You could . . . say that . . . I think," Beast Boy responded. Even as the changeling said this, and in spite of how slowly he'd spoken, Raven still felt reason to be hopeful, for in the instant he'd said the last two words, the already weakening inner portion of his emotional guard aura had taken on a somewhat brighter shade of black than before.

Starfire giggled. "That is the good to hear dear friend." She turned her head to face the front windows of the common room once more. "It's so nice for us all to be in such a good mood with the day of Valentine's so close to being around the corner!"

In that instant, the not quite so comforting change to Beast Boy's inner empathic state took place so quickly that Raven at first wasn't sure if she'd seen it correctly. The light glowing from within the burst seams of his inner aura had turned a slightly darker shade of yellow compared to mere seconds ago. The actual aura itself, meanwhile, had also darkened. Granted, it had thankfully not taken on nearly as dark a shade as it had been before its earlier lighter shade. But it was, however, a tiny bit worrisomely darker than it had been before Starfire had commented about how close it was to Valentine's Day. And even though Cyborg and Robin lacked the ability to actually see Beast Boy's emotional guard aura and detect his emotional state the way Raven could, they could nonetheless tell that something was wrong when they saw Beast Boy noticeably tense up at the sound of Starfire's comment. In that moment, all three of them found themselves mentally thinking, "Careful Star." From what Raven had managed to tell them last night while discussing the plan, one wrong comment or action could all to easily cause any progress they made in getting Beast Boy to let down his walls to retract in an instant back to the exact way it had been before at the very best and possibly to an even stronger state at the very worst. The last thing they needed was for Starfire to say one single wrong word and end up causing Beast Boy's entire emotionally numb turmoil storm to come pouring back into existence.

Beast Boy straightened up to full height, though still remaining noticeably tense. "So . . . it . . . is," he managed to grunt.

Starfire giggled, sadly seemingly quite unaware of her unwittingly causing the situation to tense up. "I'm sure I've said it more than once, but I'm especially looking forward to this year's day of Valentine's; particularly now that me and Robin are finally what you'd call the couple." She then nonchalantly pointed at the piñata-like decoration shaped like two intertwined snake-like creatures with vulture wings and deer antlers; a decoration that just happened to now be dangling right above Beast Boy's head. "In fact, I even went so far as to get that one particular decoration now hanging above your head out of my closet for the very first time in all my time living on this planet. And for good reason. In fact, from what I've heard tell of on Tamaran, the sight of a male and female Ishtarian cloud serpent taking part in a mating ritual is considered a sign of everlasting love in some cultures, and a sign of blessings of good fortune in sexual regards in others."

Upon hearing this, Raven, Cyborg, and Robin found themselves quite disgusted upon hearing this little bit of information. But at the same time, they also felt very unnerved at the sight of how _Beast Boy_ appeared to be reacting to hearing this information. The shapeshifter went so far as to turn his head away from the sink faucet, a partially annoyed, partially angry, and partially disgusted look on his face. "Interesting," he managed to slowly grunt. Then he directed his eyes upwards towards the decoration in question. The look in his eyes at that moment seemed to burn with such utter hatred and malice that the poor decoration would have almost certainly burst into flames if Beast Boy had such a power. "I . . . never knew . . . that," he then said with both a tone _and_ facial expression that clearly said that he would have been much happier if he had _never_ been made aware of that particular bit of information.

In that instant, Robin and Cyborg directed worried glances at Raven, clearly worried that Beast Boy was on the verge of relapsing back into the state he'd been in when he'd entered the room. Raven was about to signal the need to abort and get Starfire to stop, and then she paused upon noticing a little detail that had completely slipped from her sight over the course of her initial panic at the sight of the change that had resulted from Starfire's first risky comment that had gotten them on this current slippery slope situation. While the aura had indeed changed over the course of Starfire's recent string of apparently quite risky comments, it had not changed at all in the way that Raven, Robin, and Cyborg had just now been fearing. The 27 burst seams in the aura were still present and clear as day, the light glowing from them had started to turn a somewhat neutral shade of orange as opposed to dimming to the point of fading from existence, and the actual aura itself had also changed to the point that it appeared far more gray than black. It was clear that, while not being affected in the way it had been before Starfire's first risky comment, let alone in the way they would have preferred, it still appeared that Beast Boy's unnerving emotional numbness had been sufficiently purged enough for it to now be even further weakened and wavered by the annoyance and borderline rage that had now taken the place of the happiness that had been present before. She silently gestured for the two boys to stand down, but still be on guard, now hoping that perhaps even though the plan seemed to treading somewhat more dangerous waters, it perhaps still yet had a chance at complete success, albeit in a very horribly different way than originally intended.

In that moment, Starfire, still blissfully unaware of Beast Boy's not entirely pleasant mood, continued talking. "And I'm especially looking forward to seeing all our friends coming to visit this year for the holiday! And in light of Cyborg's very pleasant sounding theory, I am also very much doing the anticipating of seeing how many of our friends may have perhaps been inspired to take the route of romance by Robin and I as well as the Kid Flash and Jinx and Aqualad and Terra!"

At the sound of this, Beast Boy proceeded to start very rapidly gulping and glugging down the rest of the water in his mug. On the inside, Raven could see various zigzag shaped lines appearing on the wall of his inner emotional guard aura as well as what looked like ominous white lightning bolts crackling across both these lines and the open seams where the orange light was glowing through. Then Beast Boy very slowly placed the mug down on the counter to his right, let go of the handle in a style that seemed almost as if he were forcing himself to let go or yank his hand free of super glue, and placed the same hand (now still positioned in a style that made his fingers look like claws) on the counter area right next to the mug. "I . . . see . . ." he managed to say.

Starfire giggled, still seemingly unaware of Beast Boy's dangerously worsening mood, and then started spouting off various other comments regarding Valentine's Day, romance, couples, and similar elements. And as this happened, Cyborg and Robin felt their hearts go into their throats as they saw Beast Boy very noticeably tensing up, and Raven felt a chill come upon her as she saw more and more white lightning bolts appear across the surface of his inner emotional guard aura and the light glowing from the open cracks in it start to slowly turn from bright orange to a hideous boiling red as his irritation and anger increased. The three worried Titans turned their heads to look at the chipper Tamaranean princess, their facial expressions silently begging for Starfire to stop talking. In spite of the fact that Raven's plan was definitely working in getting Beast Boy to let down his unhealthily high emotional guard, it was becoming increasingly clear that it would succeed with an extremely less than desirable result. Even Beast Boy now seemed aware of how tense things were getting. "I think I've heard enough Star," he managed to growl, his back still turned away from his four fellow founders.

"Oh but I'm so excited!" Starfire squealed happily. "You have no idea just how much good reason I have to be as happy as I am for this year's day of Valentine's compared to the previous three I've celebrated here on Earth with you all!"

While Starfire said this in an amicable way, Beast Boy found himself practically steaming at the sound of that last comment. He knew that Starfire was correct with that comment . . . _too_ correct. "I . . . mean . . . it . . . Star," Beast Boy grumbled ominously. "Stop . . . talking . . . now . . ."

"Oh but how can I?" Starfire asked with a joyous giggle, and then spun around in circles in the air a couple times with her fists clenched and raised in a happy gesture of apparent triumph. The even now continued silent efforts from Robin, Cyborg, and Raven to get her to stop proved still of no avail. "Especially in light of all the good news. . ."

With a savage _RIP_ that only Raven could hear, a gigantic fissure was carved down the center of Beast Boy's inner emotional guard aura by a particularly massive white emotional lightning bolt, revealing what seemed to be a gigantic ocean of blood red anger light just barely still remaining held back by what very little now remained of the guard aura, and the shape shifter snapped around a full 180 to face Starfire, a look of such animalistic rage that Starfire almost instantaneously stopped talking in shock and horror upon sight of it. "I SAID STOP TALKING!" Beast Boy roared. "HONESTLY! YOU'VE LIVED HERE ON EARTH WITH US FOR 5 YEARS NOW! WHAT PART OF THAT ONE SIMPLE STATEMENT DO YOU NOT GET YOU IRRITATING . . . LITTLE . . . _TROG_!?"

The silence that followed was almost deafening. For what seemed like an eternity, not one single Titan said a word, with Beast Boy angrily glaring and snarling at Starfire while the Tamaranean in question, plus the other three founders were too stunned and taken for a loop at what had just now unfolded. Only once had Beast Boy ever gotten this angry at his own fellow founding team mates, and that had been three years ago during the time in which he'd managed to assume the form of the Beast for the very first time. And even that time, he hadn't blown up at Starfire in the current fashion he'd just now done, let alone ever gone so far as to go as close as he'd come to calling her by a particularly brutal name from the Tamaranean perspective. But even though he hadn't actually said the actual word in question, the tone with which he'd spoken the very narrow substitute word indicated that it wouldn't have been any different if he had said that one dreaded word. And even as the silence continued to unfold, Raven bitterly made note of how Beast Boy's inner emotional guard aura was at this point held together by practically pins and strands of thread. To put it simply, her original plan was seeming to become a smashing success, but at a quite unpleasant expense.

But then, as if the universe had deliberately decided to prove a point at just how much worse the current situation could now become, the silence ended when Raven and Cyborg heard footsteps come to a landing behind the sofa and storm in the direction of Starfire and Beast Boy, with Raven managing to detect a second eruption of anger exploding onto her empathic radar seconds before she'd heard the sound of the footsteps. "DON'T YOU _EVER_ CALL HER THAT!" Robin roared.

Raven mentally cursed and winced. In his instinctive will to stand up for his girlfriend and blind anger and horror at hearing Beast Boy so very narrowly stopping short of referring to her by the treaded alien racist slur against Tamaraneans that they'd all been introduced to two years ago, Robin had now lost his own temper and was on the verge of putting the whole situation at even higher risk of escalating into an even worse situation than it had already become.

Beast Boy lowered his head away from Starfire to direct his glare at the now equally enraged Boy Wonder. "Or else what Bird Boy?" Beast Boy asked spitefully. "You'll run me through with that oversized kitchen knife?"

Robin tensed up even further, if that was at all possible, and clenched his fists. Then he slowly slipped his fists towards his utility belt as if to draw out the two birdarangs that granted him the capability of summoning the aforementioned 'kitchen knife' Beast Boy had mentioned; a mighty sword. "Don't. Tempt. Me."

Beast Boy turned up his lip and gritted his teeth in a petulant snarl. "Don't give me ideas."

"I mean it Beast Boy," Robin snarled, briefly allowing his right hand to move out of its earlier position to point accusingly at Beast Boy. "There are a great many unpleasant things I could do to you right now if you get me angry enough."

"But they all involve deadly force don't they?" Beast Boy asked. He leaned his head forward threateningly at the Boy Wonder. "And you don't do that." He said the last bit in a tone indicating that it was clearly a statement, not a question.

Robin snarled silently at the changeling, fighting with all his willpower not to lose what little self-control he now had left.

Beast Boy directed a still angry, but now also quite smug, smirk towards the Titans' fearless leader. "No. You'd never go that far. You never would; you never could. You've never had the guts. Not even before you very narrowly avoided tripping over exactly that very line back in Tokyo!"

Robin very noticeably tensed up once more, his face clearly showing that he was now struggling to avoid devolving into incoherent babbling. "Don't you _dare_ make light of that you little Vermin!" Robin growled. "Don't you freaking dare!"

"Or what?" Beast Boy almost purred, though still with an angry tone. "I'm an American, Boy Blunder. I can do whatever I darn well please." He pointed his own finger at Robin. "And quite frankly, it's high time someone brought you and Star down a couple pegs! Come on, did you really think that you and all the other lucky love birds in this entire stinking team could just go along spouting off about your happiness and rubbing your luck at the romance department in us unlucky bachelors' faces every day and not sometime expect one of us to bite back?! Huh?! Did you?!"

The changeling emphatically slammed his right fist down on the kitchen island. "Well I've had enough!" he snarled. "I've spent the last few days, weeks, and months seeing nothing but all manner of lucky in love people _but_ me get blessed with Cupid's arrows and hearing nothing but Valentine's Day this and Valentine's Day that and love, romance, luck, couple, and all that jazz whatever! And I am sick of it! So utterly sick of it! And just because you and Star have become such a lucky example of a successful teen love story and the entire team's power couple and there are so many other members of the team both inspired by you and otherwise who have followed in your footsteps doesn't give you the right to just constantly trumpet it out, show it off, and rub it in the entire freaking world's stinking face!"

At the sound of this, all four of the other founding Titans looked visibly stunned. Raven in particular seemed to be almost literally white faced. Then the full import of just what it was that Beast Boy had said finally hit Raven, and her eyes widened further as a very big thought came to her. Without even consciously realizing it, Raven, Cyborg, and Starfire looked each other in the eyes. In that moment, Raven could tell from the looks in the faces of the Tamaranean princess and half robot earthling that they had reached the same conclusion. Then they looked back at Beast Boy and Robin, only for Raven and Cyborg's hearts to sink at the sight of Robin's own stunned expression melting back into an angry glare, and this one looking even stronger and more venomous than before. Clearly, he was too angry at the moment to truly think Beast Boy's comment over and connect the dots. "Oh I'll _definitely_ be rubbing something in your face if you keep up that attitude." He reached his hands back towards his utility belt, and then slowly drew two of his birdarangs half way out of their compartment. "The flat . . . of my blade."

Beast Boy's eyes narrowed, and his mouth took on a shape that allowed only one single left bottom fang to protrude from it. "You wanna piece of me Feather Face?" he snarled.

"Bring it on Jungle Breath!" Robin howled.

With an inarticulate guttural scream of rage, Robin drew out the two birdarangs the rest of the way and summoned his sword. Beast Boy simultaneously morphed into a lion and roared in challenge at the Boy Wonder. In a flash, the two angry teen heroes lunged at each other, claws and sword at the ready. Cyborg cringed, and Starfire slapped her hands over her mouth with a horrified expression in her eyes. Things were about to get ugly, quite possibly bloody, and very possibly even deadly.

"ENOUGH!"

The other Titans barely even had enough time to realize that Raven had even just now shouted before a rippling shockwave of shadows suddenly erupted between Robin and Beast Boy in midair and sent them both flying backwards in their respective opposing directions. Robin slammed onto his back on the desk where the computers were located, his legs flying up into the air and his sword was jarred out of his hands and sent bouncing across the carpet before coming to a stop inches away from the window that doubled as the TV. Beast Boy the green lion, meanwhile, slammed painfully into a set of cabinets positioned just above the sink, crushing and ruffling up the Ishtarian cloud serpent piñata thing in the process. Then the green lion crashed down on the floor between the sink counter and the kitchen island on its belly with its legs sprawled out akimbo.

Cyborg gulped at the sight of what had just happened; and then he and Star looked over at Raven, only for their eyes to widen once more at the sight of the state Raven currently appeared to be in. The sorceress, they now belatedly realized, had somehow switched positions so that she was now hovering in front of the main doors to the common room instead of sitting at the seat where she'd earlier been forcing herself to read _Anne of Green Gables_ , which just happened to be just around the same area that Robin had now been sent crashing into. But not only had she switched positions, but the Azarathian teen sorceress also looked _very_ much like she now meant serious business. She had her hands raised in the air, and they were crackling violently with what looked like black lightning. Her cloak and hair were seemingly billowing around in the air from side to side on their own accord, which made the now very glaring fact that she currently didn't even have her hood up all the more unnerving. But scariest of all, her eyes had split into their all too scarily familiar form of four glowing red pupilless slits. It was now quite clear that Raven herself had now managed to snap and lose her temper over the debacle that had just now been halted, and was just barely keeping herself from slipping further into just how angry and scary she could get then she already had.

Beast Boy groaned, and started moving around as if making an effort to get up. Then he suddenly saw a flash of black light out of the corner of his eyes and felt a burning sensation come on his left side, and he growled in pain as he proceeded to collapse back onto the floor and roll onto his right side as he continued to get subjected to the stream of black lightning bolts that he was now getting blasted with.

Raven angrily kept the stream of shadow lightning flowing from her hands as she then proceeded to slowly levitate towards the shrieking green lion that had only seconds or so ago been seemingly willing to severely injure or possibly even kill Robin or Starfire. "This has gone on long enough," Raven growled, and she briefly increased the strength of the shadow lightning. "Far . . . to long . . . enough," she snarled, and made another brief increase in the blast's intensity, eliciting an even louder agonized hiss from Beast Boy.

Then she lowered down so that she was on her knees in front of the green lion's head, shutting off her shadow lightning blasts simultaneously. Beast Boy had just enough time to groan in both pain and relief, weakly shake his head side to side, and start to slowly attempt to lift his head up before Raven grabbed him by the mane and yanked his head up so that she was staring him right in his furry face.

The lion's eyes widened, and the nightmarish foursome of demonic red eyes narrowed. Raven thrusted her head further forward towards Beast Boy's face, the mighty green big cat involuntarily cringing. "Enough with this Beast Boy!" Raven shouted. She gestured with her right hand at the stunned Cyborg and Starfire and now very ashamed and guilty looking Robin. "We were all going out of our way to be nice to you not too long ago; but if this is how you're gonna repay us, then enough is enough!"

She clasped her right hand back around the left side of Beast Boy's mane. "I don't care how rotten a day you're having right now or how many similar such days you've been having for the last few weeks or months! Just because you're having a rotten day and feeling like you'll have a terrible Valentine's Day does not, and I mean _does not_ , give you the right to try to ruin everyone else's chances at being happy and enjoying themselves and attempt to force them into feeling just as bitter and angry and emotionally dead as you!"

For what seemed like an eternity, Starfire and the boys all looked at Raven with stunned looks on their faces. Then Beast Boy's own stunned face eventually melted into what could have easily been interpreted as a lion's form of a nervous gulp and a look of shame and guilt, and the mighty green big cat's eyes moved downward towards the floor.

Raven hissed, and slowly leaned her head towards Beast Boy's lion face once more. "Now you are going to leave the common room, return to your own stupid room, calm down, and think about what you've done. And that is a fact. Understand?!"

Beast Boy grumbled in what sounded like a mixture between pain and fear; and from the look that then came into the green lion's eyes, it was clear that, if lions could cry, Beast Boy would have broken in tears right that very moment.

Raven's eyes narrowed. "Understand?" she growled.

The green lion turned its head to direct a half fearful and half pleading look in the direction of Starfire, Robin, and Cyborg. "Mrowr?" he whimpered.

Raven snarled. "For the last time . . ." she yanked Beast Boy's head towards her hard, putting into a position that had his face practically pressed against Raven's and they were staring each other in the eyes. " _UNDERSTAND_?!" The green lion's eyes narrowed, but in fear and despair rather than anger, and it weakly nodded its head up and down, whimpering timidly like a kitten.

"Good," Raven hissed. She then lifted up her right hand, and the eyes of both the green lion in front of her and the other three Titans watching from her right widened in horror at the sight of it cloaking up in tendrils of black lightning. Then, with absolutely zero warning, she slammed it across Beast Boy's face and set the energy to max power. "NOW GO!"

"AAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRRR!"

In that instant, at the exact same time that Beast Boy the lion unleashed that piercing roar of fear and pain, the ludicrously thin and tattered curtain that remained of his inner emotional guard aura EXPLODED, and Raven suddenly found herself overwhelmed by what seemed like _10_ tsunamis' worth of emotional feedback; with pain, despair, and fear present in an impossibly overwhelmingly high majority. In fact, the abrupt emotional feedback she got from Beast Boy upon the complete and utter destruction of his emotional guard aura was so big and strong that she completely lost focus and found herself floating backwards out of control while spinning around in back-flip style circles, her hands losing their hold on Beast Boy's mane and face and the black lightning fading from her right hand. She had just enough time and conscious awareness to scream in fright and confusion before her back then slammed against the central window that doubled as the TV hard enough to cause it to very impressively crack and unleash a tremendous load of electricity onto her, causing _her_ to scream in an agonized tone none too different from Beast Boy's earlier roar that had caused her to get into this state in the first place. At the same time that Raven was getting electrocuted by the violently released electrical feedback from the TV, Beast Boy, either having not even noticed Raven's plight or still too scared from earlier to even care, rocketed up onto his feet and rocketed out of the common room and back towards his room, screeching, roaring, and meowling in pain, fear, and despair all rolled into one in an alarmingly high pitch. All of one minute after Beast Boy's hasty exit, the damaged TV finally stopped emitting bursts of electricity, and Raven landed painfully on the floor in front of it, groaning and wheezing in both pain from the electrocution and exhaustion and disorientation from the overwhelming flood of emotional feedback she'd unwittingly caused to be thrust upon her.

After what felt like an eternity to Raven, she eventually heard Robin's voice say, "Are you ok?"

Raven groaned, and managed to weakly lift up her head in time to see Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg positioned before her, with the Boy Wonder on his hands and knees, Starfire bending over with her hands on her knees, and Cyborg standing fully upright in between the two love birds. "I . . . think so . . ." she managed to croak. She closed her eyes, wincing as she felt a small headache briefly flash into her mind. Then she looked back at her three friends, briefly finding herself having difficulty to fully remember what had just happened. "What happened?"

"Well you went so far as to start giving Beast Boy an unwilling, and seemingly quite painful, facial tanning," said Robin. "Then you abruptly let go and went out of control literally just after Beast Boy reacted vocally and we were on the verge of intervening." The Boy Wonder pointed at the very seriously cracked and damaged TV. "And then you crashed against that and very nearly got yourself barbecued."

"Not like you didn't sorta deserve it at that particular point," Cyborg grumbled dryly, folding his arms across his chest and directing an unnervingly icy look of clear disapproval towards the teen sorceress. Raven briefly bristled up and directed an angry look towards Cyborg, only to cringe and hang her head at the sight of Cyborg's human eye narrowing and his cybernetic eye turning an ominous darker shade of red. Now that she thought about it, Cyborg did have a point. Even she now had to admit that she had gone more than a little too far.

Then Robin suddenly straightened up, a calm look of sadness mixed with a seeming 'epiphany realization' look on his face. "You know guys, as extreme and needlessly brutal as Raven's earlier tactics just now were, I think that what she said, combined with what Beast Boy said before he and I attempted to start fighting, may have just given me an idea as to what got him to start putting up such high guard in the first place." He turned his head to face the main doors to the common room, not even bothering to care about the claw marks on the floor left from Beast Boy's hasty escape. "What if he perhaps is feeling under the weather and bitter because of just how much exposure he's been getting of me and Star and any and all other couples among the Titans? What if he's acting out because of feeling alone and unwanted as a result of not having anyone to truly romantically appreciate and celebrate Valentine's Day with himself?"

"That kind of thing's never been a problem for him before," said Cyborg.

"But me and Star weren't together all the other times," Robin countered. "And for that matter, there weren't really any couples among the Titans up until starting last year with Kid Flash and Jinx and really culminating with me and Star." He shook his head. "And judging from at least one of his comments earlier, for all we know, there could be quite a large number of couples that have popped up among the team alongside me and Star, KF and Jinx, and Aqualad and Terra that he somehow knows about while we're still unaware."

"How the heck would _that_ be possible?" Cyborg asked.

"I wouldn't put it past everyone in the team to talk about it on the Titans' private social network site," Robin explained.

"We haven't used that since last June!" Cyborg yelled, gesturing to indicate himself, Robin, Starfire, and Raven.

"Doesn't mean Beast Boy hasn't," said Robin.

Cyborg thought to himself, then briefly tensed up as if about to comment, then thought to himself again. "You know," said Cyborg, his left index finger raised and a sheepish look on his face. "I think I'd best leave it at that before I make myself look even more like an idiot."

"Wise decision," Robin responded dryly without missing a beat.

Cyborg slumped, directing a 'really?' look at the Boy Wonder. "Seriously man?" he asked. Robin's response was a dry grin.

Then Starfire developed a look on her face very similar to the one that had earlier been on her boyfriend's face. "You know friends," said the Tamaranean. "Now that we've been placing such thought on this matter, I have now thought of a moment where he may have potentially begun the high guard." She looked at her three friends. "I remember how very weird he was acting at the end of his shift last Halloween Night."

Robin thought to himself, and then nodded his head. "Now that you mention it Star, he was." His eyes narrowed in apparent regret. "And now that I think about it, I remember deciding to have a bunch of us pair up and watch him over basically all of November and December just to make sure that he was ok. But now that I think about it, depending on just who each pairing watching Beast Boy consisted of, that may have very well ended up making things worse depending on just what happened to him last Halloween."

"You know," said Cyborg. "Speaking of the high emotional guard. . ." he looked over at Raven. "Status?"

Raven sighed, and hung her head once more. "It's down," she said. "We won't have to worry about him pulling a 'burn them all' anymore." She sighed. "But it wasn't entirely in the way I'd originally planned. It was weakened to near breaking point as a result of him being angry and annoyed, and the final straw was . . . was . . . fear, despair, and pain." She sighed once more, and managed to weakly get up onto her knees, wincing from lingering pain in her back as she did so. "It was so overwhelming, what came out of him, and I . . ." she hung her head once more. "I hadn't wanted it to be like this, never."

"It is my fault," said Starfire. She hung her head, her eyes seemingly on the verge of tears. "If I had been the more careful and had kept my mouth tiptoeing instead of running, Raven's plan would have been successful in a more pleasant manner like originally intended, and none of this current unpleasantness would have happened."

Robin turned to face Starfire. "It's not your fault Star. You had no idea how he was being affected."

"But I should have," said Starfire. "I should have paid attention to the way friend Beast Boy was behaving and speaking, noticed his tone . . . and you were all trying to warn me to stop while I was in the midst of it to, and I didn't even pay any of it any mind . . ."

Robin walked over to Starfire and placed his hands on both her shoulders. "Starfire, listen," he said insistently, yet also kindly, "this is _not_ your fault."

Starfire sniffled, and then hung her head once more, prompting Robin to give her a hug, which she tearfully returned. Cyborg and Raven sighed, and hung their heads, both feeling unhappy. Raven in particular, however, had a facial expression that was clearly flooded with guilt and shame. "All those emotions," she said, "but especially the ones that I actually managed to truly detect at the front lines, all that pain, fear, and despair. . . and all of it because of what I'd just done. I can still feel it all, like a big giant beacon. . ."

Raven suddenly stopped speaking, her eyes widened in horror as she suddenly realized something very disturbing. "At least, I did." And in fact, right as she'd been mentioning the matter of the 'beacon' of emotions, she had realized that she was in fact no longer picking the 'beacon' up on her radar, and she couldn't even remember when it had slipped away. The other three Titans present in the room with her soon realized the implications behind Raven's words, and their own eyes widened. If Raven was now once again unable to sense Beast Boy on her empathic radar, there were several unpleasant possible explanations that they did not want to even dare _think_ about.

Raven was up in a flash, and she started running off towards the main doors to the common room. "I've got to find him," she stated as she ran off to enter the corridors and find Beast Boy, likely in his room since that was where she'd very meanly told him to go.

Robin and the others started to move as if about to follow their Azarathian friend. "We'll come with you," Robin began.

"No," Raven stated, turning to face them and lifting up her index finger in a gesture that brooked no argument. "You stay here. I'm the one who caused him to get in his current state. This current mood he's now in is on my hands alone, and it's my responsibility to make sure he gets out of it." She turned around once more and swooped out of the common room without giving Robin, Cyborg, or Starfire any chance to respond. As she proceeded to levitate through the corridors of the tower to find Beast Boy's room afterwards, she found herself rapidly thinking to herself and praying that Beast Boy was alright. "He may be annoying," she thought to herself, "but he's still my friend. And I will _not_ let myself be responsible for him committing suicide!" The entirety of that one hallway's light bulbs burst in response to that last unnerving thought, but Raven didn't even care at that point. The light bulbs could be easily replaced. Beast Boy was irreplaceable, and she was not going to let him be lost.

 **And just like that, this new chapter is up and running! Here's to hoping you enjoyed this chapter and found it exciting! I feel quite proud of myself on this chapter! And do feel free to comment on whatever you wish to when you review! And believe, I very much hope that you all enjoyed this and review! As per usual, I need a minimum of 1 review for this chapter before I will allow for the posting of a new chapter (upon completion of said chapter of course). So yeah, there's that. Again, hoping you enjoyed, and that you leave plenty of feedback! ^_^**

 **P.S: If at all possible (and you've watched the DCAU Justice League cartoon), please feel free to see if you can notice and identify a little paraphrasing of quotes I borrowed from 'A Better World' (the Justice Lords episode) for the sake of Beast Boy and Robin's brief tense confrontation.**

 **Coming up Next: Raven comes to Beast Boy's room, more than ready to make up for what she's done to cause him to go cowering and whimpering there in the first place, only to also end up getting and learning quite a lot more than she bargained for (in more ways than one). Just how much more work must she now do to ensure that Beast Boy will ever truly be alright again? Find out next chapter!**


	6. The Lonely Beast

**Hey everybody! Once again, and especially thanks to the 3 lucky readers who reviewed, I give you a new chapter! And here's to hoping you enjoy the Hell out of it (not to mention read and review)! ^_^ That being said, in this chapter, Raven arrives in Beast Boy's room, more than willing to do whatever necessary to make up for being the one responsible for sending him to cower there in tears in the first place. But just how much will she find herself to have unwittingly signed up for? And for that matter, just what else could Beast Boy have to unload? Or more accurately, how much does he have to unload? And to further add on, will Raven's efforts in the end prove successful? Let's find out shall we?**

 **A/N: But first, I shall remind you all once more that I do not own Teen Titans (or anything else DC or similarly copyrighted and owned by legal high powers). Now with that out of the way, onward with the fic! :)**

 **Chapter 5:**

 **The Lonely Beast**

Raven burst into Beast Boy's room, the automatic door just barely having enough time to slide out of the way completely in time to avoid getting smashed, and she came to a hovering stop in the very center of the impossibly messy room before then softly landing on her feet. She looked around the room desperately, panting and gasping in both exhaustion and fear as she continued to see absolutely no sign of the green shape shifter anywhere in the room. She couldn't even detect any emotional output.

"Beast Boy?" she asked quietly. "Beast Boy?" She turned her head left and right, looking from his bunk bed to his closet, still not seeing any sign of him. "Where are you?"

There was no response. Now Raven found herself visibly sweating and nervous. Miraculously, her powers didn't act up in the slightest. "Where are you?" she asked nervously, now starting to get extra nervous about what may or may not have perhaps befallen the changeling. "Where are you Beast Boy? Where are you?" There was still no answer. "Say something Beast Boy! Please say something!" There was still no response. "Say something Beast Boy! Anything!"

She heard a low gurgling rumble coming from her right, and then she abruptly detected a flare of surprise, which then turned to fear, on her empathic radar before it then seemed to shrink and cower back behind an emotional wall. Raven let a small relieved smile come on her face with a slight gasp. Beast Boy was indeed present, and now she could easily find him now that she knew exactly what to look for. Beast Boy had once again put up high emotional guard. But this time it was purely a conscious effort and in no danger of inflicting mass psychological harm on him, and she could still detect tiny bits of emotion from him now that she knew where and what to look for. She turned her head to face Beast Boy's bunk bed once more. She raised her eyebrow. But even so, where was he? Then she thought to herself, and looked down towards the floor the bed was standing on, and detected a tiny sprinkling of fear. While saddened that the emotion she was detecting was fear, she also felt glad to have sensed the emotion. Because now she had an idea where Beast Boy was. She walked over to the bed, got down on her hands and knees, and looked under the bottom bunk. "Beast Boy? Are you down there?"

. . . . .

Beast Boy was huddled and curled up under the bottom bunk of his bed, quivering and trembling and whimpering from the ordeal he'd gone through not too long ago. "Just stay calm," he thought to himself, even though he was currently feeling anything but calm. "Everything will be ok; at some point anyway. Things will get better. They always do."

He curled himself up further to the point that his back was slightly arched and very nearly pressing against the bottom of the bed. "All I have to do now is just stay here for a little while," he thought to himself. "Then, all the bad stuff will go away, and it will be safe for me to come out. That's the way this kind of situation always worked for me in the past." And indeed that had proven very true . . . far more true than him or any other child should have ever had to know. "Just take it easy," he thought to himself. "Everything . . . will be fine."

He then directed his attention towards a small box located not too far from one of the legs of the bunk bed. His eyes took on a very clear look of sentimentality and sadness. He knew very well what was in this box, and it was something very important to him. So important in fact, that with every single rare moment in which he'd taken it out, he always made sure to put it back in the exact same spot all the time. And to further cement how important it was to him, he always made sure that no matter how messy his room got, he was always able to find it. "Maybe today would be a good time to take another look at it," he then thought to himself.

He heard the sound of the door to his room opening, and his ears went up, eyes widening as he realized that someone had now come into his room. He directed his eyes towards the direction of his door just in time to see it close, and he then heard what sounded like something swooping away from it. Then his heart slithered up into his throat at the sight of two feet encased in a pair of very familiar blue slip on shoes come to a soft landing on the floor to his right on the outside of his hiding place. "Oh no," he thought to himself as he quietly worked to slide his way closer towards the small wall portion to his left in an effort to put even more distance between him and the person that he knew was the one wearing those familiar shoes and inside his room. And at the same time he moved towards that wall on his left, he also moved backwards diagonally towards one of the bed legs located behind him against a corner of that same wall. "Good God come on, hasn't she put me through enough today?"

For what seemed like an eternity, absolute silence filled the air. Beast Boy didn't dare to move, speak, or even so much as breath. And at the same time, he also consciously worked to set up as strong of a guard around his emotions as he possibly could. He was that afraid of seeing Raven now in his room with him after having been responsible for scaring him into hiding and cowering there in fear of her in the first place. Raven also said nothing. Then he heard Raven softly say, "Beast Boy?" Her tone sounded concerned enough, but Beast Boy wasn't about to trust her and her potential intentions just yet, not on his life. "Beast Boy?" he heard Raven say again, still sounding just as concerned as before. "Where are you?"

Beast Boy still didn't respond, though he did silently work to curl himself up to the point that it was almost as if he were in a position reminiscent of a cowering puppy (albeit, while still in human form). "No," he thought to himself. "I'm not going to let her know I'm here. Not yet. Not until I'm absolutely certain that it will be safe."

He saw Raven's feet and legs moving around in a way that hinted to her being seemingly quite nervous and distressed. Beast Boy felt somewhat tempted now to perhaps just maybe make some sort of noise, but at the same time he was still cautious. After all, Raven's powers usually tended to act up in some way when she was feeling a particularly strong emotion, and nothing of the sort seemed to have happened. Of course, Raven's powers very rarely ever acted up like they used to anymore ever since the experiences with Trigon two years ago. But even so, considering what had just happened not too long ago to send him cowering into his room in the first place, it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Where are you?" he heard Raven ask in a tone that _very_ clearly sounded nervous. At the sound of this, Beast Boy found himself struggling extra hard to make a decision on what to do. For all he knew, she could very well indeed be genuinely worried and concerned and as nervous as she sounded. But at the same time, what if she was still in a dangerous mood and at risk of causing him further reason to be scared and potentially harmed? He felt his face fall in a mixture of worry, guilt, and fear. What was he going to do?

"Where are you Beast Boy?" Raven asked. "Where are you?"

Beast Boy closed his eyes and hung his head. He had no idea what to do.

"Say something Beast Boy!" Raven shouted in a very distressed, frantic, and concerned sounding tone. "Please say something!"

Beast Boy mentally grimaced, cursing him for his current bout of fear-induced indecision. "What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?" he thought to himself, terrified that he'd potentially be putting himself at risk of further harm and terror, yet at the same time feeling an instinctive need to allay Raven's apparent concerns and let his friend know he was indeed alright and that she didn't have to worry.

"Say something Beast Boy!" Raven yelled, her voice clearly sounding quite distressed and alarmed, and almost begging. "Anything!"

Beast Boy's stomach grumbled. His eyes widened and his ears stood on end, shocked at the unexpected development. Then time restarted for him, and his shock turned to fear. "Oh no," he thought to himself, instinctively tensing himself up once more with a nervous look back on his face. "She definitely heard that," he thought to himself. Then he mentally face palmed. "And she probably managed to catch me on her emotional radar just now to," he mentally groaned. He hurriedly worked to try to worm his guard back up, desperate to stay hidden.

From what he could see of Raven, she had clearly both heard his rumbling stomach and detected his brief flares of emotion. Further confirmation was received when he heard her give off what sounded like a relieved gasp. And then yet more confirmation was received when he saw her feet move in a way that clearly showed her turning around to face his bed and start moving towards it. His face fell at the sight of Raven's feet moving towards his hiding place. "On no, oh no, oh no," he thought to himself. "Oh boy, this had better not end badly. Please God, don't let this get worse."

Raven's feet came to a stop, and the sorceress appeared to briefly stand still. Then he saw her legs move to the point that her knees came into view and came to a soft landing on the floor. Then he saw her hands, wrists, and upper forearms come into view with her palms coming to the point of touching the floor. Then she lowered her face and head down to look under the bottom bunk.

In that instant, Beast Boy very noticeably tensed and cringed at the sight, his eyes widened in terror and his teeth gritted in despair. For just the briefest (though to Beast Boy it seemed impossibly long) of moments, the face he saw looking under the bed trying to find him was not the familiar face of his gray skinned Azarathian sorceress friend. In that brief instant, Beast Boy's mind saw the face of a nightmarishly familiar face from his past of an adult man with fair skin, messy black hair, icy blue eyes, and an unnervingly malicious and maniacal grin. Then he blinked, and the terrifying visage was instantly replaced by the familiar gray, purple eyed, and quite genuinely concerned face of Raven.

"Beast Boy?" Raven asked. "Are you down there?"

Beast Boy very briefly held his breath, and then slowly exhaled. "Yes," he managed to slowly whimper. Raven instantly snapped her head in his direction, her eyes widened in surprise, and Beast Boy snapped his head down to face the floor, shivering in fear. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Raven found herself gaping at Beast Boy. "How bad did I affect him?" she thought to herself. She reached her hand out delicately towards the changeling. "Beast Boy?" she asked. "It's ok. You don't have to stay curled up under your bed like this. You can come out. Everything's ok."

Beast Boy lifted his head up to look towards Raven. "You promise?" he whimpered.

Raven nodded. "Promise." She extended her hand further. "Please come out."

Beast Boy looked at Raven's extended hand, then her face, then back at her hand. Then he sighed. "If you say so."

He slowly crawled closer to Raven, who moved backwards out of the way. Then Beast Boy managed to crawl entirely out from under the bed, and then just as slowly straighten back up to full height on his feet. As Beast Boy stood there like that, taking deep breathes, Raven delicately and carefully placed her hand on his shoulder . . . only for the changeling to tense up involuntarily at the touch, his eyes closing and his mouth tightening into a wincing grimace. "Please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me," he whimpered in a low squealing childlike voice.

Raven slowly withdrew her hand from Beast Boy's shoulder, her heart sinking and her face clearly showing a mixture of horror, guilt, and sadness at just how low the usually impossibly happy and unflappable Beast Boy had apparently now been reduced to, and through her own actions to boot. "I'm not going to hurt you Beast Boy," Raven said, instinctively reaching her hand back towards Beast Boy.

The changeling reared back, a fearful look on his face as he gazed meaningfully at her hand as if watching to see if any black lightning tendrils appeared on it. Raven mentally winced, slowly withdrew her hand, and then raised both her hands in a placatory gesture. "Honest Beast Boy, I'm not going to hurt you. Not anymore today. Sure I may hit you every now and then in so many heat of the moment incidents, but I'd never just outright hurt you for the fun of it. Not intentionally. Never."

Beast Boy sniffled, and directed his head back towards Raven's face. "Oh really?" he asked, sounding as if nearly in tears from both sadness and fear. "Even though I always annoy you and drive you up the wall? Even though I was acting like such a jerk not too long ago? Even though you only put up with me because you view me as an adequate teammate and nothing more?"

Raven gaped at Beast Boy, completely stunned and taken aback by Beast Boy's last comment. "What?" Raven asked. "Beast Boy, I haven't said anything like that . . ." Her eyes widened, and her mouth closed as she suddenly realized something important. "Not since . . . last . . . Halloween." She directed a stunned, yet also seemingly quite saddened look towards the green shape shifter. "You . . . still . . . remember that argument?"

Beast Boy nodded his head, his facial expression not changing in the slightest. "Mm-hm."

Raven remained gaping in stunned sadness at Beast Boy. Had he really been undergoing the same emotional turmoil she'd only sensed for the first time yesterday for that long?

"And believe me," Beast Boy then continued. "Considering what a good freaking majority of the civilians I overheard last Halloween had to say about me not too long after that argument, what you said to me before we started our watch was the ultimate compliment of kindness in comparison."

Raven was rendered further speechless at the sound of this. "What did they say?" she eventually managed to ask.

Beast Boy scoffed, though the motion seemed more saddened then dismissive. "Need you even ask? Nothing I hadn't heard before."

For another minute or two, Raven and Beast Boy remained standing where they were, somewhat facing in each other's direction. Then Raven carefully stepped forward and placed her hand on Beast Boy's shoulder. This time, Beast Boy thankfully didn't flinch at the contact. "Beast Boy," she said quietly. "Stuff like that? That doesn't mean anything. People who say such things about us? They're just jealous, ungrateful, or the like. Those comments shouldn't get to you like that. None of it's true. You know it's not . . ."

"Yes it is!"

Raven gaped silently at Beast Boy, stunned once more at how he'd just reacted. "What do you mean Beast Boy?" she asked, wanting more than ever to understand why he was so adamant in his apparent depression and to somehow help him bounce back like he always did. "None of that's true. You're not thinking straight. Let me explain. . ."

"No they're right!" Beast Boy howled. "I am a freak!" He yanked his arms upwards towards the ceiling, fingers extended to full length as if he were trying to extend claws. "I am abnormal! And not in an attractive way like Star or any of the other Titans either! I am a freak! I do belong in a zoo! I am an animal! I am a monster! I am an unnatural, ugly, disgusting, twisted, sick, freaking perversion of nature!" He looked directly back at Raven at the exact same time he said the last bit. And in that moment, his facial expression clearly showed that he was only trying to convince himself that he truly believed what he'd said in a desperate effort to make it all the less hurtful to hear and think about, and was even now fighting to keep himself from crying right then and there.

Raven was left even more lost for words then she'd ever been before upon hearing all this from Beast Boy. Clearly his condition had been even worse then she'd thought.

Then Beast Boy gave an almost saddened attempt at a snarl that sounded more like a sniffle, and pointed both of his index fingers at himself. "Look at me! No really! Go ahead! Look at me! Look at me right now, and tell me, to my face, if you truly think that what all those ungrateful punks said about me isn't in the slightest bit true!"

For what seemed like an eternity to both of the chromatically challenged founding Titans, Raven just remained standing where she was, gazing sadly at Beast Boy. She placed her hand on Beast Boy's shoulder once more. "They're lies Beast Boy. All of it."

Beast Boy sighed. "Raven, how can you possibly believe that?"

"How can _you_ , _not_ , possibly believe that?" Raven responded.

"Well that shouldn't be too hard to answer should it?" Beast Boy asked. He gestured all around his body. "I mean look at me! I look like some bizarre combination between a Martian, a vampire, and an elf. And Martians can at least change themselves so that they can blend in and look like they could actually fit in! I can't!"

Raven gaped at Beast Boy once more. What she'd just now heard the changeling was the exact opposite of the kind of things she'd usually hear him say about himself. "That's never bothered you before," she managed to say. "None of it has."

Beast Boy scoffed. "Please," he grumbled weakly. "Do you really think I actually believed any of that stuff I said about being a hit with the ladies or any similar comments? I sure as Hell didn't. And clearly, you guys didn't either. So really, why should I even hope anymore that there was really anyone out there with even half a competent functioning brain that believed any of that drivel?"

Raven's heart sank even further at the sound of these words. "What about the girls you managed to hang out with or at least attempted to attract attention from all those times here in Jump City? Or that crazed horde of fan girls from back in Tokyo?"

Beast Boy snorted in a half saddened and half derisive tone. "Like I said, there's no one out there with even half a competent functioning brain that would have believed any of that BS I spouted or would have actually truly felt for me at all in that kind of way. Fat bunch of airheads the whole lot of them. They wouldn't know real love or a true figure worthy of such love if it bit them on the nose. And I sure as Hell wasn't ever going to get anywhere with any of them. That much I know."

In that instant, Raven wasn't sure anymore whether or not she was truly feeling this massive amount of sadness she currently appeared to be feeling, or whether it was her own sadness mixed in with the equally massive and strong sadness she could detect radiating in impossibly strong and large waves from her green team mate. "Then, why did you even . . ."

"Need you even ask?" Beast Boy responded, clearly knowing what Raven was trying to say. "Sure I never got anywhere, let alone had any real hope of getting anywhere, but it was better to at least try and maybe in the end get at least some _tiny_ form of that kind of positive attention than to just give up, do nothing, accept the unpleasant inevitable, and feel like I never had any meaning in life at all." He then pointed at Raven. "And I sure as Hell wasn't going to admit to you or anyone else being right whenever you and the other detractors disagreed with all that garbage I was spouting. I mean honestly! Would any person in my situation who was still willing to put up a fight ever actually be so dumb as to actually openly admit that they actually agree with the people who supposedly disagree with them and that all the stuff they're trying to prove wrong is actually correct all along?"

Beast Boy sighed, turned away from Raven, and walked on over to his bed, taking a seat on his bottom bunk in the process. Raven continued watching him intently as this happened. Beast Boy placed his gloved hands on his lap, hung his head, closed his eyes, and sighed heavily. "And sure, for a good long time maybe I actually did believe that I'd truly win out over the negativity and make truth out of my own lies. But to put it simply, last Halloween was just one of the final straws that broke this camel's back. It wasn't until that day that I actually heard enough people in agreement against me, starting with you and ending with some random asshat, plus Lord knows how many other nameless and faceless shmucks in between over virtually an entire night with no relief that I truly actually started considering the possibility that maybe I truly was as wrong as I believed." He then lifted his head and looked at Raven once more. "And in the months that have followed, with all the couples that have spouting up among the Titans, and how many members have been lucky enough to find love and left me in the dust, I've decided, it's high time I just finally accept the truth and stop fighting it. Maybe things will just be better anyway if I just admit that I never even believed my own lies and that you and all the others were right all along and that I truly don't have any chance at the happiness, love, and respect that I kept trying to prove I actually deserved. At the very least it probably won't hurt so much anymore if I just accept that it's actually correct."

For yet another brief moment that seemed like an eternity, Raven stared intently at Beast Boy, sadness practically radiating from her face. Then she slowly walked over to where Beast Boy was positioned and took a seat right next to him. "Beast Boy," she managed to say. "None of that stuff you just said is true."

Beast Boy sighed. "Why do you keep doing this to me Raven?" he asked. "Here I am, finally admitting that you were right, and yet you even now still keep playing the Commander Contrarian card on me. Why?"

"Because this time, what I'm saying about you and to you is in fact true," Raven responded. She placed her hand on his shoulder once more. "Just like what I said to you when I had that talk with you that finally got you to come out of your room after the night of Terra's first official betrayal. Just like what I said to you that night out by the shore after your very first experience with the Beast. Just like what I said to you when we had that little talk together after our experiences with that mystery monster and your unpleasant failed efforts with Terra at that stupid high school. I'm telling you the truth." She let a nervous half smile come on her face. "And besides, who's to say there's really that many Titans who've managed to find love before you and that many romantic couples among the team? Aren't there only like 3 confirmed so far?"

Beast Boy sighed, reached under the pillow on his bottom bunk, and drew out what looked like a very thick and heavy scrapbook that he placed unceremoniously, yet gently, onto Raven's lap. "Here's your answer."

Raven was taken aback by this quick response from Beast Boy, but she didn't dare show any visible sign of it. Instead, she proceeded to calmly open the book, her face now blank, stoic, and unreadable. And upon seeing just what the contents of the book actually were, she found herself mentally dropping her jaw as she saw the vast array of evidence and forms of confirmation that Beast Boy had managed to gather in regard to just how apparently a large number of couples had managed to blossom amongst the entire extended Titans team. Among the contents were both notes in Beast Boy's own (and surprisingly quite legible and passable) handwriting, as well as photos of various things ranging from pictures of status updates and the like from the Titans' private social network account all the way to photos of various Titan pairs apparently confirmed as being romantically linked doing all manner of activities, which included kissing in more than photo.

Beast Boy noticed Raven's wide eyed look, and nodded his head. "Yes Raven, I knew about all that. In fact, through the exact same method in which I learned of all these couples, I was already aware of their upcoming visit this week a couple weeks ago. Heck, I'm actually quite surprised that Cyborg's apparently not aware of Bumblebee hooking up with Herald. They usually tell each other everything." He then gestured at a photo on the page Raven was currently on depicting Jericho and Kole sitting together on a beach watching the sunset with their backs turned towards the camera, and with Kole leaning quite comfortably up against Jericho from his left. "And say what you want about just these pictures alone not being enough to justify them as proof as opposed to apparent evidence taken out of context. I've also been able to hear all the couples talking. And confirm their relationships. And that's not even considering the number of photos I have of kisses that I managed to take when they were following me around and thought I wasn't looking."

Raven turned her head to face Beast Boy. "What?" she asked, clearly surprised.

Beast Boy turned his head to face Raven. "You really didn't know?"

Raven shook her head side to side, a stunned speechless look on her face. It didn't take long at all for Beast Boy's instincts to allow him to determine that she was genuinely surprised by this news. "Oh," he managed to say, and he hung his head, clearly having thought that Raven had been aware of that detail. "Well in that case yes, starting about a week after last Halloween, there were quite a large number of Titans that I managed to find following me around and keeping a close eye on me, and they were always travelling in either pairs, or larger groups. But the majority of the groups were duos, and the majority of these duos turned out to be romantic couples."

The changeling hung his head. "And boy was it painful to keep seeing them to. I tried everything I could to find some place I could hang out and not have them around finding me and watching me. But every time I managed to find a place where I was able to successfully evade them for just one day. They'd always manage to appear at that very location the very next day. And in the end, no matter where I want, or what I did, or how hard I tried, I could never evade them, never escape them, never permanently shake them off. And in the process, I always managed to keep on getting exposed more and more and more to their romance and status as couples and have it seemingly rubbed in my face." He hung his head further, his entire upper body slumping downward in the process. "And I hated it." Raven stayed silent, stunned and saddened at just how much pain the changeling had been going through.

Then Beast Boy managed to straighten back up, sighing once more. "They finally stopped tailing me and watching me sometime last month about a couple days or so before Terra called me and informed me of how she, Aqualad, the rest of Titans East, and potentially all the other ancillary divisions would be coming to visit us for Valentine's Day this year." He turned his head to look towards the door to this room. "And now that every single one of those couples is going to be present, combined with Cyborg having managed to get himself a potential girlfriend of his own in that Simms girl, now I'll have virtually no chance at all of escaping the sight of it all." He turned his head to face the wall where his closet was, and hung it once more. "And it's not fair."

For a brief few moments, Raven had absolutely no idea what to say. Then she placed her hand on Beast Boy's shoulder yet again. "Why didn't you tell us any of this before now?"

Beast Boy sighed. "As willing as I've started to feel to accept the possibility of it indeed being as true as I feared, there was still a tiny part that was afraid to and didn't want to run the risk of you finally developing the cruelty to directly confirm it all to be true." Then he hung his head. "I also didn't want to make myself look weak."

Raven gaped in stunned sadness at Beast Boy. "Weak?" Raven asked. "What do you mean?"

"You know perfectly well what I mean," Beast Boy grumbled melancholically. "We're heroes; and super heroes at that. We're not supposed to be so strongly affected by stuff like that. We're supposed to be stronger than that." He placed his hands on the forehead of his still lowered head. "How are we, or any other superheroes for that matter, supposed to do our job of properly protecting the innocent powerless civilians, giving them living reasons for hope, and keeping the world safe if we show ourselves to be just as vulnerable, weak, and undeniably human in the presence of our fellow heroes, let alone in front of all the 'normies' we're supposed to protect?"

Beast Boy looked over at Raven. "Did you know that I've almost never ever cried before? Not even once?"

Raven's eyes widened. "That's . . . impossible . . ."

"Ok sure I've cried from pain," Beast Boy admitted. "And a couple of times I've thrown a sort of crying fit over things I find unfair or am angry about. But actually genuinely full blown crying from being genuinely sad? I've never cried like that since I was _eight_."

"Not even for Terra?" Raven asked.

"Not even for Terra," Beast Boy confirmed. He sighed. "Granted, I came pretty darn close after the night she finally revealed herself as Slade's mole at that stupid carnival. But in the end, I managed to hold it back, reign it in, and be strong like a proper hero." He looked towards his closet wall again, and sighed. "And I'm sure not gonna cry now. Not over this, or anything."

For a brief moment, Raven was stunned speechless yet again. But then her mind snapped out of its state of paralysis, and she directed a still saddened, yet also determined, look at Beast Boy. "Yes you are."

Beast Boy turned his head to face Raven once again, this time with a half saddened and half irritated look on his face. "Oh yeah?" he asked.

Raven nodded her head up and down, facial expression not changing in the slightest. "Correct," said Raven. "If you've been suffering at this kind of level for as long as you've just said, then enough is enough. You are going to cry on it. And you are going to start today . . . right here, right now."

"And admit to even everyone, including _myself_ , that I'm weak?"

"Crying is not a sign of weakness."

"That's not what virtually every man these days says."

"They're just too cowardly and proud to admit it."

"Well I'm still a superhero."

"So is Starfire, and we all know she's not afraid to cry."

"Well yeah, but she's different."

"We're all different. And crying is just another natural human element."

"It still means I'm weak! I'm a hero! I'm supposed to be stronger than that!"

"When a strong one cries, it's not because they're weak," Raven gently countered. "It's because they've been strong too long." She placed her other hand on Beast Boy's other shoulder. "Just let it out Beast Boy. You'll feel better because of it. Trust me, you will." She sighed. "Believe me, I know."

Beast Boy raised his eyebrow. "You? Crying?" Beast Boy asked. Then Raven nodded her head, and Beast Boy slowly realized, both on his own and through his multiple animal instinct guides, that she wasn't kidding. "You're serious?"

"Mm-hm," Raven responded. "Cyborg to. And yes, no kidding, even _Robin_ of all people has managed to break his façade and cry every now and then; and in fact, he's proven much more willing to cry when he believes he needs to these days ever since he finally got together with Star."

Beast Boy thought to himself, quite stunned and speechless. Then he sighed, and hung his head yet again. "So now it turns out all five of this team's founding members, _but_ me, have proven strong enough to admit they need to cry and to actually go through with it." He placed his hands on the top of his head, tangling his fingers into his hair as if they were claws. "God! I'm more pathetic than I thought!" He then clenched his left fist and pounded it down on the mattress area directly to his left. "I'm too pathetic too be a proper superhero! I'm too stupid to properly think for myself! I'm too different too fit in! I'm too cowardly too face my own darkness! I'm too weak to properly fight and win my own battles without _someone_ helping me!" And with each of these phrases, he punctuated it with a slam of his left fist on his bottom bunk mattress. Then he lifted his fist one more time. "And I'm too darn, freaking wrong, to ever get anything freaking right!" He slammed his fist one final time.

Time briefly seemed to stop, with Beast Boy still tensed up and breathing heavily. Then he started visibly shaking, his right hand letting go of his hair and lowering down into a position similar to his left hand, and his face now clearly showing that he was clearly on his last legs in his efforts to keep himself from taking part in the very form of crying that he'd just recently claimed to have made himself stop ever doing since all the way at 8 years of age.

Raven noticed this. "Just let it out Beast Boy," Raven said calmly and gently. "Just cry."

Beast Boy, still clearly shaking and struggling mentally between holding it in and letting it out, very vehemently shook his head. "No," he whimpered.

"Why not?" Raven asked gently in genuine concern.

"Because," Beast Boy managed to say. He hung his head. "Because. . ." He lifted his head, still having it face the direction of the wall where his closet was located. "Because . . . it's been so many years; there's so many other things besides what I've just told you about that I've amassed unwept sadness over . . . if I start crying . . . I'm afraid I'll never stop!" He hung his head once more. "Just think, me, the supposedly strong and mighty and eternally happy Beast Boy, forever a crying sniveling wreck. Guess that would just give you, Robin, and Mento one more thing to add to their list of grievances about me." He turned his head to face Raven. "Heck, even with all the effort I've done in my life to make him proud of me, the sight of me in my current state, let alone of me actually crying in sadness over it all, would probably make him feel more proud than he's ever felt . . . but of himself . . . and for all the wrong reasons!" Then he pointed his left index finger at Raven, his face now looking even more as if he were about to lose it. "Heck, if it weren't for how much better you and Robin have developed in regard to both character and your friendships with me, you'd probably be right there with him feeling the exact same way! Because look at this! All you, Robin, and Mento ever thought about me being a hopeless inadequate who could never do anything right and would only ever be a disgrace to himself and the entire freaking world?! Guess what?! That's exactly, how I turned out to be!"

For another brief moment that seemed to last an eternity, Raven just gaped at Beast Boy in a mixture of shock and sadness, and Beast Boy continued gaping at Raven with his finger still pointed and his face still clearly showing signs of his increasingly weakening struggle to keep himself together. Then Beast Boy just as noticeably started to show signs of getting yet weaker then he'd already started to become in his efforts to avoid crying, with his head and neck seemingly convulsing from the effort to hold his sadness back. Raven noticed this, and gently placed her hands on Beast Boy's shoulders. "That's it Beast Boy," she said soothingly. "Just let it out. Don't hold back. Let it flow." She let a small sad smile come on her face as she looked Beast Boy in the eyes. "Just stop fighting it Beast Boy. Let it go. Be sad Beast Boy. Be free. Let yourself allow it to end so you can be happy again, like you've always been."

Beast Boy, if it was at all possible, started wavering even further upon hearing all this, and he started very loudly sniffling and wheezing and hissing and damn near _snarling_ in his efforts to yet keep his sadness contained. Raven remained exactly as she was, completely undeterred. "I mean it Beast Boy," said the sorceress. "Cry. Let it end. You'll be all the happier and stronger for it."

Beast Boy directed his eyes subtly towards the door, and Raven shook her head. "No Beast Boy," she then said. "I won't leave, and neither will you. You won't have to worry. You won't be alone. You can let it all out right here and now. I'll be here with you the entire time. By Azar's will, I promise you that." She leaned forward slightly closer towards Beast Boy. "Just cry, and let yourself truly be sad."

At first, Beast Boy didn't seem to make any change at all. Then he let out another whimpering snarl, but this one sounding considerably more primal, agonized, and wavering in will then all the others had. Raven mentally took a deep breath, taking note of the difference in tone between this snarl and all his others from earlier, and allowing it to serve as a sign of hope that she was perhaps successful in her genuine work to help her . . . actually quite good . . . friend. Then Beast Boy slightly reared his head back, letting out another snarl of an even stronger caliber of the same one from only seconds ago. Then he reared his head back even further, letting out a third snarl of similar, yet stronger, caliber while simultaneously letting out a screeching hissing whine through his virtually gritted teeth. Raven remained gazing intently at Beast Boy, a half saddened, half nervous, and half hopeful look on her face.

Then Beast Boy's eyes partially closed with a clearly extra saddened look in them, almost became completely covered up by moisture, and she felt a final strand in his current consciously constructed emotional guard just plain snap. With a hiss of despair, Beast Boy thrusted himself forward, _coiled_ his arms around Raven in a tight embrace, almost pounded his head onto the sorceress's right shoulder with his eyes closed, and started _howling_ in the most genuine and surprisingly overwhelmingly strong sadness that Raven had in fact long thought wasn't even physically possible to be felt. For a brief moment, she couldn't move, her hands and arms outstretched forward, and her eyes widened and jaw gaping open from the shock of the impossibly massive and strong _flood_ of sadness that she could even now feel rocketing into her empathic radar. In fact, she very nearly felt as if she were at risk of passing out from the overwhelming strength of the emotional feedback she was currently having thrust upon her by Beast Boy. But then she mentally gritted her teeth. "No," she thought to herself. "I am not going to abandon Beast Boy to this. Not even mentally. I promised him I'd stick him with through this entire experience, and by Azar I _will_!" In a flash, she wrapped her own arms around Beast Boy, returning his hug and simultaneously both physically and mentally anchoring herself to allow her the ability to ride out the entire emotional storm alongside Beast Boy without being overwhelmed and passing out from the experience.

. . . . .

Meanwhile, right outside Beast Boy's room, the other three founding Titans were positioned in the hallway just close enough to listen in, yet far enough away to avoid triggering the door's automatic opening. And in the process, they even now found themselves feeling both guilty, saddened, and ashamed.

"Some friends we are," said Cyborg. In all he'd managed to overhear, he'd learned so much stunning, and also sad, information that had apparently been long accepted truth for his green shape shifter buddy for _months_ , even _years_ , without him ever even knowing. Granted, he was admittedly also quite stunned at the sound of the information of just how many official couples had actually managed to blossom among the Titans in the advent of the success of the 3 major Titan couples he'd been aware of, as well as dumbfounded at the news of how Bumblebee had apparently been dating the Herald for several months now and hadn't told him about it. But right now, he was going to save thinking, let alone _worrying_ , about those details at a much later date; particularly in light of what he'd now learned about Beast Boy's current situation that had now turned out to have, from a certain point of view, actually been even worse than he'd thought.

"I must admit," Starfire said, a saddened look on her face and an equally disheartened tone in her voice. "I feel that I have been a terrible friend to poor Beast Boy for both not being able to have ever noticed any of this as well as potentially participated in some of it by accident."

"I know how you feel guys," said Robin. He was feeling just as saddened, ashamed, and guilty as his girlfriend and second in command. Granted, he was also feeling quite stunned at all the revelations he'd managed to undergo over the past few minutes or more. Beast Boy had now managed to reveal to Raven, and through means of eavesdropping, the rest of the founders, a vast treasure trove of shocking details about him that that had not only never once been remotely suspected by them, but that Beast Boy himself had gone to extreme lengths to never once let on. With all that in mind, Robin couldn't help but find a small part of him wondering, had he and the other Titans ever really known Beast Boy at all? But even so, he didn't really care at all about that one little detail; certainly not as much as he would have during the Titans' first year of existence as a team. The way he saw it, the Beast Boy he'd already known before learning all this had been a friend of his, and of all the other Titans. "And by God," he thought to himself. "This new Beast Boy we're finally getting introduced to is going to be our friend to."

Then the Boy Wonder flashed back to one particular detail that caused his expression to look even guiltier. "You know," said Robin. "Now that I think about it, I do remember now all that stuff Beast Boy said about when I had us all split into groups and keep an eye on him for a good couple of months after last year's Halloween." He hung his head. "I remember now, he seemed to be acting a little out of it and not quite like himself the first week following last Halloween, and I thought it might be a good idea for us to keep an eye on him just to make sure he was alright." He sighed. "But now, it would appear that, in my efforts to make sure he was ok, I accidentally made things worse for him."

Starfire placed her hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. "Don't feel bad Robin. We couldn't have possibly known that our effort to look out for him would end up making him feel bad."

"Well technically we could have if . . ." Cyborg began, only to promptly shut up at the withering glares that Robin _and_ Starfire sent his way, clearly not all that keen on hearing anyone make any digs at Beast Boy. "Sorry."

Robin sighed, and hung his head. "Well one thing's for sure," said the Boy Wonder. "We'd definitely best both apologize not too long after today, and work our darn hardest to really make things up to him in the future." He gestured towards the door to Beast Boy's room, the sound of their green friend's sobbing still radiating from behind it. "After all this, he's more than earned that right."

Cyborg let a small smile come on his face. "Took the words right out of my mouth."

Robin and Starfire let smiles of their own come on their faces. Then they all found themselves looking back towards the door at the sound of Raven saying, "Yes, that's it Beast Boy, just let it all out. Everything will be ok. I'm right here." At the same time, they also heard Beast Boy's crying start to slightly subside as if he were managing to slowly calm down as he let the last of his collected sadness out of his system.

The three Titans gathered outside Beast Boy's room looked each other in the eyes, clearly now finally fully realizing how awkward and potentially not entirely pleasant it would be for them if Raven and Beast Boy were to find them in their current location within the near future. "I think we'd best head back to the common room," Robin whispered.

"Agreed," said Cyborg. Starfire nodded her head in agreement.

And thus, the three eavesdroppers silently went away from the door to Beast Boy's room and returned to the common room, hoping that until such time as they deemed it safe to mention, Beast Boy and Raven would be none the wiser about their earlier presence and eavesdropping.

. . . . .

Meanwhile, back inside Beast Boy's room, the changeling finally managed to calm down, and with a few final sniffles, stop crying. The two chromatically challenged friends broke the embrace and turned their heads to face the direction of the wall with Beast Boy's closet, the shape shifter sniffling and rubbing at his eyes with his fingers while Raven just took a deep breath and exhaled.

The sorceress was brought back out of her thoughts when she heard Beast Boy, "Sorry about that." She turned her head to face him.

"Don't be," she responded. "Like I said, it was better that you finally got all that out of your system. It may not feel that way for you yet, but over time, you'll feel much better after all this." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "And don't worry. Regardless of what happens between all of us, we're all friends, and actually practically family now. And who knows, maybe someday, you'll yet find someone special to be with just like Robin, Cyborg, and so many of our other team mates already have."

Beast Boy sighed. "I guess so. But still, I just wish that I could have found that someone a heck of a lot earlier than now." He looked over at Raven, a partially exhausted, partially aggrieved, and partially sad. "I mean come on, I was one of the founders. And yet here I am, out of all of us, I'm the last boy founder of this team who still hasn't found anyone. Granted, I once thought I did four years ago, but that girl's with Aqualad now, not to mention the fact that what I felt for her turned out to be a schoolyard crush anyway."

Raven nodded her head in sympathy with her eyes closed. She opened her eyes back up. "Yes, I can understand how disheartening that is," she said truthfully. She closed her eyes again, hung her head slightly, and sighed, thinking of her quite brutal experience with Malchior and how she had yet neither found anyone else that she could tell for certain would be worthy of risking her heart like that for a second time, let alone really tried searching for a worthy, let alone genuine, replacement. "But nonetheless, like you said to me 3 years ago," she opened her eyes and locked eyes with Beast Boy once more, "you may think you're alone; but you're not." She withdrew her hand from the changeling's shoulder. "And believe me, just because you haven't found that special someone yet, doesn't mean that she isn't out there at all. You still have plenty of time left to keep searching."

Then Raven caused her right hand to glow with her shadowy energy, and a small vortex appeared above said hand. A small object fell out of the vortex and into Raven's outstretched palm before the vortex and the energy on her hand faded away, revealing the object to be an IPod device. "In fact," said the gray skinned teen sorceress as she started looking through her songs. "There's actually one song on here that I think you might find worth listening on your own IPod that should emphasize this little point of mine quite nicely."

Beast Boy raised his eyebrow upon hearing this. "Since when is music like that your kind of thing?"

"Usually it's not," Raven responded. She continued looking through the music on her IPod. "But sometimes, even _I_ feel the need to listen to music that's actually supposed to make listeners feel happy as opposed to depressed." She managed to find the song in question, and then she started to work to set up for a share transfer of the song between her IPod and Beast Boy's. "And every time I've ended up in a situation like that," she explained, "this song has always proven to be just the thing I've needed to hear." She initiated the transfer, and Beast Boy's own IPod lit up seconds later as the song arrived.

Beast Boy had just enough time to briefly glance at his IPod before Raven then got up from his bottom bunk. "I'll leave you for a little bit to listen to this song and see if it has the desired effect." She started walking back towards the door to his room, and then turned her head. "Granted, I'll be keeping a small psychic link on you just to be absolutely positive that you'll be alright."

Beast Boy nodded, absentmindedly picking up his IPod at the same time. "Understood," he then said in a half accepting and half interested tone.

"Good," said Raven. Then she thought to herself. "About how long do you think the others and I should wait before we can either expect you to come out of your room or come back to check on you?"

Beast Boy lowered his IPod, thinking to himself. "Um," said the changeling. "Maybe about . . . half an hour?"

Raven thought to herself. "I guess that will do." She turned her head to face the door and walked back towards it once more.

Then Beast Boy's eyes widened and his ears stood on end as he remembered something. He turned his head and held his hand out towards Raven as if gesturing for her to stay. "Wait!" Raven came to a stop, and seemed to lift up her head as if rolling her eyes to Heaven at the unexpected delay, and Beast Boy mentally winced. Then Raven turned around to face the changeling, and he hurriedly said, "Could it still be possible for us to visit the zoo today, or at least sometime this week?"

Raven's eyes widened, only now finally remembering how Robin and Cyborg had suggested this idea earlier in the common room, and she thought to herself. After what felt like hours to Beast Boy, the sorceress nodded her head. "I'll talk things out with the others." She looked directly back at Beast Boy, a small smile on her face. "And depending on scheduling, we may even get the chance to visit more than once this week." Smile still on her face, Raven turned around and resumed her walk towards the door, this time finally reaching it and exiting Beast Boy's room.

Soon after she exited the room and the door sealed itself shut once more behind her, she let out a low sigh of her own. Now that Beast Boy had managed to bring up his own current angst over being single this Valentine's Day in the midst of so many couples, and had a bit of a time to think on it herself, she now couldn't help but remember how she herself was in the same boat. Granted, she'd been single for her entire life so far, including during the Valentine's Days. Of course, she always acted and put on a visual image of never really caring all that much about the whole business of Valentine's Day, romance, and any other similar elements. But deep inside, as much as she liked to openly disagree with her more carnal and demonic side in regard to some of the more torrid and family unfriendly ideas it came up with, there was a still a tiny romantic aspect within her that hoped just as much for a happy ending of her own just as much as any other girl. Of course, this part of her hadn't really been all that strong during the last few years, particularly since there had never really seemed to be too big of a reason to care. But this time, as Beast Boy himself had learned the hard way, with so many couples now successful blossomed and smoothly sailing among the entire team as a whole, it was quite easy for bachelors and single ladies like Beast Boy and herself to feel lonely and in wanting. And right now, after the talk she'd given to Beast Boy, she now couldn't help but admit that this year she actually quite strongly hoped that she wouldn't have to spend the entire day locked in her room brooding and trying to keep her mind off the more romantic aspects of this year's Valentine's Day by virtually smothering herself with all her ghastlier and similarly unpleasant elements and memorabilia she kept in her room.

She took a deep breath, exhaled, and steeled herself mentally. "No," she thought to herself. "I just talked Beast Boy out of sinking into a similar depression. I am not going to just up and ignore my own advice." She lifted up her head, her eyes still closed, and exhaled once more. "Just like with Beast Boy, my own special someone is out there; I just haven't met him yet." She opened her eyes and started slowly walking away in the direction that would inevitably lead to the common room.

As she left, she took a small peek into her temporary psionic link she'd now had placed upon Beast Boy, and found a small smile back on her face as she noticed how, this time, the giant beacon of emotional output that she'd now been exposed to twice in a row from her shape shifter friend today had not faded or diminished in the slightest. In fact, now that she thought about it and was carefully keeping such watch on the now frankly quite impossible to avoid flood of emotional output from Beast Boy, not only was this particular giant amount of feedback composed of virtually nothing but happiness, joy, and hope, but had now actually just recently managed to become even stronger and brighter. Her smile widened. Clearly, he was feeling the effects of listening to the song that she'd newly managed to copy from her IPod to his. Then she thought to herself as she realized one little detail.

In all her time among the Titans, even before she'd detected Beast Boy's dangerously high emotional guard, she'd never once managed to detect an emotional feedback anywhere near as high, strong, or in such mass quantity as she was now receiving. In fact, she could actually now see that there was virtually little to no guard in him now at all, save for one small portion in the deepest and darkest depths of the very center of his heart that was almost impossible to notice without taking an extra close look through all the blindingly vibrant ocean of unguarded emotions surrounding it. With that in mind, a part of her couldn't help but wonder just how well she'd truly known Beast Boy at all before her conversation with him mere seconds ago.

Then her small smile came back on her face and she shook her head side to side. That didn't matter. Regardless of how much or how little she'd truly known Beast Boy, the changeling was still both a valued teammate, and a _great_ friend. And quite frankly, she couldn't have asked for any better in his regard, let alone when it came to any of her other friends. In fact, compared to a surprisingly large number of the other members of the team, she and Beast Boy actually had a surprisingly strong bond now that she thought about it. Then she briefly came to a stop in the hallway, her slight smile widening ever so discreetly. "Who knows," she thought to herself. "Maybe this Valentine's Day just the two of us could hang out together at the zoo as friends. I'm sure he wouldn't mind that. And besides, hanging out together as friends is better than being all alone for the entire day." Smile still on her face, she resumed her trek back to the common room, her mind now firmly set on working to see if it would be possible to set such a plan up, yet at the same time either completely missing or not really caring about the small tiny buzz in her mind that seemed to think that there was more to her current thoughts on the matter then she herself was currently willing to believe.

. . . . .

Meanwhile, back in Beast Boy's room, the changeling had a wide smile on his face as he listened to the song Raven had newly provided for him onto his IPod. The song in question was Michael Buble's "Haven't Met You Yet", and he certainly had to admit, Raven certainly hadn't been kidding in her description of it earlier. For 15-20 minutes straight following Raven's departure from his room, he listened to the song again and again. He was truly enjoying it just that much.

Eventually, the changeling finally managed to mentally talk himself out of playing the song yet again, remove his earphones from his ears, and place his IPod back where it had been before picking it up to listen to the song. He took a deep breath, exhaled, and sighed in content. Then he looked back at the calendar hanging by his closet, smiling happily yet again. He had to admit, he was already starting to feel better.

"Never thought that Raven of all people could be _that_ good at cheering people up," he thought to himself half-jokingly and half in all seriousness. Then he looked over at the door to his room, and his smile widened further with his eyes brightening up in glee as he thought once again about the potential for a zoo trip that day, and perhaps even on more than one occasion this very week. He got up from his bed. "I guess now's as good a time as any to get back with the others," he thought to himself, and he departed from his room, his mind set. And as he slowly walked through the hallways to get to the common room, he found his smile remaining quite obviously wide at the thought of the potential upcoming day trips to the zoo, the upcoming opportunity to say hi to all his pals from the team's extension branches when they arrived the very next day, and even, daresay it, actually celebrating this year's Valentine's Day happily alongside all his friends.

"Heck," he thought to himself. "Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get the chance for just me and Raven to hang out at the zoo this Valentine's Day while everyone else is either out on a date or finding some other means of killing time." Then he paused, a confused look on his face as he wondered where this new idea had come from and why he now actually found the idea so appealing. Then he shrugged it off, smiling once more. "Well hey," he thought to himself. "She did just go out of her way to cheer me up; I haven't felt this good in years." His smile widened. "Not to mention," he thought to himself. "She's basically one of my best friends on this team, just like Cyborg."

"That's what you think."

Beast Boy's eyes narrowed, a small frown coming on his face at the sound of the Beast's unexpected comment from within his mind, and he irritably started mentally probing through his mind to try to find the Beast. But as luck would have it, the cheeky primal punk had already gone to ground to deep within his subconscious for him to find without wanting to be found, and it also appeared to have said all it had currently wanted for the time being. Sighing, he stopped his mental rummaging and resumed his trek to the common room, his smile slowly returning as he once again thought excitedly about the fun and actually quite happy potential days to unfold in the near future. But even as he did so, there was still one part of his mind that now had to grudgingly admit that the Beast was actually somewhat correct in that the way he personally thought and felt about his friendship with Raven was actually a good bit stronger then what he had with Cyborg, Starfire, Robin, or any of the other members of the team. "But why?" he thought to himself. "What difference does it make?" He heard the Beast chuckle as if enjoying an inside joke, and this time he also heard virtually every single one of the other animals in his mind chuckling alongside it in apparent agreement. His eyes narrowed in suspicion and confusion, but he otherwise continued to maintain his happy outward look. Just what was it that all the animals in him were currently thinking about his friendship with Raven that he himself didn't seem to be able to comprehend?

He shrugged, shielding his hearing from the sound of the mass chuckling in his mind as best as he could. "I can worry about that later," he thought to himself. "Right now, I've got more immediately important things to do. I'll think on this little mystery later . . . whatever the answer may be. Grr, what is it with them? Why are they on my case like this over Raven of all people all of a sudden? What makes her so different from all my other friends and teammates?"

 **What indeed Beast Boy? What indeed? And on that note, I'm hoping that you guys all enjoyed reading this chapter just as much as I enjoyed writing it, and that you leave a good bit of feedback. At the very least, I'd especially appreciate if I received at least 1 review for this chapter. By the time I have the next chapter finished, all I need is for that little requirement to be fulfilled, and voila, up goes the new chapter! And on another note, feel free to comment and get detailed on whatever and however many elements of this chapter you wish. And do feel free to take a guess at just who was the creepy looking man that Beast Boy briefly hallucinated Raven as in his panic. And on another note, you may have noticed Raven mentioning three earlier incidents that she had a major talk with Beast Boy? Well yeah, just to make sure you all have your full information, here's the full rundown on those talks in question. We all know what she was referring to by the Beast talk (their talk on the shore of the island at the end of the episode The Beast Within). I also view it as a major headcanon of mine (and likely is shared by multiple other fans) that it was Raven who managed to convince Beast Boy to leave his room and cheer him up after the night of Terra's officially getting her status as a traitor revealed (and certainly depicted in a quite realistic 'canon' light in Braelyn Briar's 'Raven's Intervention' story). And as for her having a talk with Beast Boy after his unpleasant efforts with Terra in Things Change, I have officially accepted this idea as a headcanon after reading about such a scenario in one of the relatively most recent chapters in Obvious Ghost's When There's Trouble. So yeah, that's everything I've got to say now. Once again, hope you enjoyed, and that you leave plenty of feedback! See ya later!**

 **Coming up Next: Beast Boy is still back to normal when it comes to emotional health . . . or more accurately, more healthy emotionally wise than he's ever been for quite a long while. And he's been cured just in time for the arrival of the members of the ancillary divisions. And with the arrival of just Titans Central and East alone, things already get to looking quite happy for the team. But not too long after the arrival of the guests, and in fact even before their arrival, Beast Boy still can't quite get his newfound little dilemma regarding his mental turmoil over Raven out of his head. And this soon leads to Beast Boy being forced to face and answer a very serious question; just how does he feel when it comes to Raven? Well come next chapter, and we all just get to find out!**


	7. It's Just a Crush

**Alright everybody! Hope you're all ready for more Teen Titan-ic awesomeness, because here's a new chapter! And this one's a pretty long one to! And it's only been about 4 or 5 days since the last two chapters I posted, so I'm somewhat still on a roll! And in this newly uploaded chapter, while Beast Boy is now in an incredibly strong state of emotional health, he now still can't get quite his mysterious mental turmoil over Raven out of his head, and the Beast and all the other animals inside there are most certainly not all that keen on making this task any easier. And all this, combined with some interesting matters brought up by multiple fellow Titans among the guests to arrive this day, soon lead Beast Boy to really having to think hard on an interesting matter; just how does he really feel in regard to our favorite Azarathian teen sorceress? And that being said, here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy!**

 **A/N: Once again, I do not own Teen Titans, or anything else DC-based. Believe me, if I owned DC, I'd be taking the DC extended universe in a much different direction, and it would be much closer to being on par with Marvel. And on a similar note, anything else copyrighted and owned by a higher legal power that I mention or make references to in this chapter are likewise not mine.**

 **Chapter 6:**

 **It's Just a Crush**

The very next morning, Beast Boy couldn't help but close his eyes and shake his head in annoyance. Even now, at the beginning of an entire new day, he _still_ couldn't get that one annoying little matter off of his mind. He opened his eyes and glared down at his currently half eaten serving of tofu waffles. "Good grief," he thought to himself. "What is it about Raven that's gotten my mind all yammering and in a kerfuffle like this? I certainly don't know."

"Yes you do."

Beast Boy narrowed his eyes. "Again with this?" he mentally responded.

"Don't play dumb," the Beast responded back from deep within it's host's subconscious. "You know I'm right. And you are perfectly well aware of why your mind is in the state it's currently in over your friend the sorceress. You just don't want to admit it."

Beast Boy mentally snarled, and resumed his work on eating his breakfast. "Well whatever it is, it can wait till after breakfast. I'm not continuing this craziness on an empty stomach, if at all."

"Oh you will accept the facts," said the Beast. "But indeed, not before you finish eating. You'll need your strength for the trials to come." The Beast retreated back into the deeper areas of the changeling's subconscious, and the shape shifter sighed. For the next few minutes, he continued his work on eating what remained of his breakfast. When he was finally finished, he shoved his plate forward, stretched his hands into the air with intertwined fingers, and turned his head to look towards the sofa, where all the other founding Titans were still gathered around, having managed to finish their own breakfasts a good couple minutes earlier than Beast Boy due to his little mental turmoil keeping him distracted at alternating intervals over the course of the meal.

"Cheeky weasel," he thought to himself. "What makes him think I'm lying? I don't have any idea what's happening." Then he looked at Raven, and he unconsciously felt a small smile coming on his face. "Ok," he mentally amended. "I do have an idea. But that's just it, an idea. That's all." And indeed he did have an idea as to what could potentially be the reason behind his current state of mind where Raven was involved. The idea he currently had that he personally felt made the most sense, and all the animals in his mind seemed quite keen on insisting was correct, was that he felt something for Raven that put her in his mind a good step above friendship.

"But that can't possibly be right," Beast Boy thought to himself almost instinctively. "How would they possibly know what love is? I certainly don't know what that kind of love is, and what I don't know, they shouldn't know either. They're all a part of me mentally speaking, so that's exactly how it should work."

He turned his head away from his fellow founders, trying as hard as he could to get his mind on other things, and his eyes narrowed at the sight of both his dirty plate and the dishes from the other founders' breakfasts that were currently piled up and unattended in the sink. "And for God's sake," he thought to himself. "It's not my turn for dish duty this week, it's Robin's darn it!"

He turned his head towards Robin, about to call the Boy Wonder's attention to this matter, only to inadvertently also catch sight of Raven still sitting on the floor to the right of the couch area where Robin was positioned, reading a book with her hood up, and he mentally screeched in annoyance as he once again heard the animals in his mind chuckling and felt the rising sense of happiness and peace that arose in his mind at the sight of her. "I do not feel that way about her!" he mentally growled. "No sir! Not at all!"

He closed his eyes, his mouth contorting into a grimacing frown as he continued to try to wrestle the offending notions of silliness into submission. "I do not feel that way! And even if I was feeling that kind of way for anyone, I couldn't possibly feel that way for _Raven_ of all people! The idea alone is an impossibility!"

The changeling shook his head side to side, and then opened his eyes and looked back in the direction of his four fellow founders once more, a now quite annoyed look on his face. "And even if I truly could feel that way at all towards Raven, let alone actually do, it couldn't possibly be actual love. It's just a crush. Yeah that's it. Just a crush."

"Hmm, those last few comments sound an awful lot like you're no longer in denial."

"Stay out of this!" Beast Boy mentally growled back in response. Annoyingly enough, the Beast only chuckled, and seemingly vanished into thin air from his mind yet again.

He growled silently to himself, and turned his head away from his fellow founders once more. But as luck would have it, this time not even his no longer having Raven directly in his eyesight was enough to allow him to shake his mind off of thinking about the whole business. "I do _not_ have feelings like that for anyone. And I certainly don't have any for Raven. Ipso facto, case-o closed-o."

Beast Boy finally managed to get his mind decisively off of his current little dilemma when he heard Cyborg say, "Hey BB! You finished yet?"

Beast Boy turned his head to face Cyborg. "Yes!"

"Well that's good!" Cyborg gave the shape shifter a thumbs up, smiling happily in the process. "Wouldn't want you still busy eating when our guests arrive within the next half hour!"

At the sound of this, Beast boy found a wide smile coming on his face. Now that Cyborg had mentioned it, he remembered quite clearly now that all the members of the extension divisions of the team were supposed to arrive that very morning. "Oh don't you worry," said Beast Boy. "I'll definitely be ready for when our guests get here."

"Join the club Beast Boy," said Robin, a smile of his own on his face. "Join the club."

Cyborg chuckled. "You know, with all that in mind, I do believe that perhaps it might be a good idea to get the dishes from this morning taken care of real soon so that we don't have a messy sight like that greeting our friends when they arrive." Upon saying this, he directed a meaningful look towards Beast Boy.

Beast Boy, however, was not about to rise to the bait. And he most certainly wasn't going to let his team mates shrug their responsibilities onto his shoulders and leave him to grumble around while they had all the time for fun they wanted. "I certainly agree," said the changeling. "That would be a fantastic idea." He turned his head and directed a half smirk and half glare towards the back of Robin's head. " _Robin_."

At the sound of his name, and the very meaningful tone that Beast Boy had said it with, Robin turned his head with a half surprised and half confused look on his face. Beast Boy wordlessly responded by picking up his place, lifting it up so that Robin could get a guaranteed clear view of it, and then threw it into the sink with the other dishes. He pointed at the sink. "Now's as good a time as any."

Robin's eyes narrowed. "Seriously Beast Boy?" Robin asked. "We've talked about this."

"Yes we have," said Beast Boy. He pointed at the Boy Wonder. "And it's _your_ turn this week to do dishes."

"Prove it," said Robin, simultaneously folding his arms across his chest in a quite petulant looking manner.

Beast Boy groaned, rolled his eyes, and then turned into an octopus before then extending a tentacle towards one of the kitchen cabinets, opening it, and taking down the kitchen calendar, which he then unceremoniously tossed onto Robin's lap.

Robin directed a cursory glance at the calendar, and then rolled his eyes. "Real helpful Beast Boy," he then said without even turning his head to face the changeling.

The changeling in question, who had just reverted back to his human form, reared his head up, groaned in irritation, and rolled his eyes. Then he assumed his octopus form once again, grabbed onto the calendar with one of his tentacles, and slapped Robin in the face with it before slamming it back down on the Boy Wonder's lap and reverting back to human form. "You have hands Robin!" Beast Boy yelled. "Pick it up yourself!"

For a brief moment, Robin found himself seemingly unable to speak or move, completely stunned at how Beast Boy had just now basically dope slapped him. Then he managed to look one by one at the other three Titans sitting in the same basic area. Starfire had a wide-eyed and close-mouthed look of shock on her face, clearly just as stunned as her boyfriend by the unexpected slap. Cyborg clearly looked as if he were fighting to keep himself from bursting out laughing. Raven, meanwhile, just raised her eyebrow as if she didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Then Robin looked down at the calendar, and sighed. "I guess I walked into that one," he thought to himself as he picked up the calendar and lifted it up so that he could read it. He mentally groaned at the sight that greeted him. Just as Beast Boy had said, this week was indeed one in which it would be his turn at dishes duty. "Come on Beast Boy," Robin groaned, placing the calendar gently on the empty sofa cushion to his right. "It's Valentine's Day week."

"So it's a holiday week," said Beast Boy. "Never stopped you from doing your chores before."

"This year's different," said Robin.

"He has a point you know," said Cyborg. Robin turned his head to face his robotic second in command. "It is your turn this week. And besides," he gestured at himself and the other subordinate founders. "None of us are getting a break from doing our chores this week. I do believe that denies you the same luxury."

"I am very sorry to say this," said Starfire. "But friend Cyborg has a point."

"Not you to Star," Robin grumbled.

"You know Robin," said Raven. "I'm sure Beast Boy wouldn't mind if I were to set up a little bit of payback for him in the event that you force him to do dishes for you today." She lowered her book so that Robin could look directly at her hooded face. "And I do believe you remember what happened the last time you tried to shirk off one of your weekly chores and have us take your turn for you."

At the sound of this, Robin's heart sank, and he leaned his head back slightly with a somewhat unnerved expression on his face. He indeed did remember the incident Raven had now mentioned, and judging by the cheeky grin on Cyborg's face, the wince on Starfire's face, and quite smug look he currently had an instinctive feeling that Beast Boy was directing at him from behind, so did they.

Three years ago, about a week after they'd returned home from their experiences with Titans East and their final battle with Brother Blood, the Titans had ended up in a particularly messy and gross battle with Plasmus that had left all of them in very real need of doing laundry. It had been Robin's turn for laundry duty that particular week, and he'd decided that he really didn't want to deal with the almost supernaturally strong grossness of the slime that had gotten all over the clothes thanks to Jump City's infamous resident ooze monster, attempting to shirk off the responsibility to Raven. And he'd gone through quite a few lengths to get Raven to be left with virtually no other choice but to attempt to do the laundry herself. Unfortunately, Raven had taken only seconds to enact an epic payback against Robin. The payback in question had consisted of Raven using her powers to animate literally _all_ of the Titans' clothes; apart from Raven's change of outfit that is; including the replacement outfits that Robin, Starfire, and Beast Boy had changed into after returning to the tower before placing their oozy outfits on the laundry pile, into coming alive, moving around on their own, and both hilariously dancing around and wreaking havoc all around the tower. As a result, not only had the Tower been left virtually flooded with dancing and walking and likewise moving clothes, but Starfire had been reduced to locking herself in her room and hiding under the covers of her bed, Beast Boy had transformed into the first animal he could think of at the time (which had by sheer bad luck on Robin's part, turned out to be a skunk) and refused to revert back to human form until he knew for certain that he could safely attempt to put his clothes back on without worrying about them fighting against him and running away, and Robin had been left awkwardly covering himself up in the kitchen with no defense against a laughing Cyborg, who had gotten _way_ too much enjoyment out of the whole spectacle. At that point, Robin had promptly decided that he'd be better off doing the laundry himself like originally assigned, and had virtually begged mentally for Raven to undo the spell, which Raven had done after leaving the Boy Wonder to squirm and cringe for an entire hour. And to add insult to injury, as Robin later found out upon entering the laundry room immediately after the spell had been broken and he was safely clothed once more, Raven hadn't even _tried_ to get started on cleaning the laundry before casting her spell.

And so, upon remembering the entire unpleasant ordeal with the laundry three years prior, and then starting to wonder about all manner of potential nightmarish ways that Raven could wreak havoc with a similar spell cast on the dirty dishes, Robin promptly got up from the sofa and headed dutifully over to the sink. "You know what forget it," said Robin as he reached the sink. He picked up a dish, turned on the water, and grabbed onto the dish soap container. "It is my turn to do dishes this week." And at that, the Boy Wonder got straight to work, his four fellow founding Titans watching in amusement at the mighty Robin doing dishes while simultaneously, and quite comically, whistling while he worked.

. . . . .

"Wasn't so bad now was it?" Beast Boy asked.

Robin groaned, and rolled his eyes. "Not now Beast Boy," he said. "I'd very much prefer that we be civil when our guests arrive."

Beast Boy chuckled, and turned his head to face the direction his fellow founders were currently looking. At the current moment, all five of them were gathered on the roof of the tower, watching the sky and waiting patiently for signs of arrival from any of the ancillary branches. At the current moment, assuming that everything went according to plan and they'd gotten their information right, the guests were supposed to start arriving quite soon. But for now, there was no sign of any of them just yet.

Then they heard what sounded like a faint bugling call of a trumpet, and they looked downwards upon catching sight of what appeared to be a flash of light from out of the corner of their eyes. And sure enough, a small portal just big enough to fit across a storm drain entrance appeared not too far in front of the small pathway where the laser line security defenses were located. A familiar figure stepped out from the portal, and the Titans smiled upon recognizing him. It was the Herald.

Cyborg lifted his hands and cupped them around his mouth. "Up here Herald!"

The cloaked figure lifted his head and looked up towards the roof of the Tower, his dark face becoming alight with a smile upon recognition of his five friends. He waved his gloved hand at them. "Greetings my friends!"

"Right back at you," Robin responded. He folded his arms across his chest, an amused smirk on his face. "Though I must admit, status as leader aside, I wasn't expecting you to beat your team mates here, let alone be the first to arrive."

The Herald chuckled. "Oh it won't be much longer now."

And sure enough, all of one second after Herald spoke, Beast Boy managed to hear what sounded like a faint gust of hyper fast wind, and soon gradually increased in volume to the point that his fellow founding Titans were able to hear it.

The Herald also heard this noise, and he smiled. "Yep, here they come now."

Sure enough, a familiar yellow blur rocketed onto the shore of the island before abruptly snapping to a stop directly to the Herald's right, revealing itself to be none other than Kid Flash. And of course, much to Starfire's delight, Jinx was present with him, and in fact right now had her arms around Kid Flash's neck and appeared to have been carried all the way from Keystone City to Jump City in her boyfriend's arms bridal style. Just like that, the entirety of the current roster of Titans Central had arrived.

Kid Flash briefly directed a small glare at Herald. "Seriously?" he stated. "Again? How do you keep arriving before me?"

"Sorry pal," said Herald. "But you're not as fast as your uncle just yet." He drew out his interdimensional portal summoning horn from his cloak as if to proudly show it off. "And your current max speed is still just a couple seconds slower than my portals."

Kid Flash stuck his tongue out at Herald in a juvenile manner, and then smiled at Jinx before gently setting her down on her feet. The pink haired probability manipulator chuckled, and patted her boyfriend lovingly on the shoulder with a playful role of her eyes, and then turned to face the tower alongside her boyfriend and team leader. She waved at her former enemies turned friends and team mates. "Hello everyone!" she called. Then she chuckled, placing her hands on her hips in the process. "Goodness, what are you doing all the way up there? Come down so we can greet each other properly why don't you?" She raised her hand playfully as if about to snap her fingers. "Or do I need to hex you down?" she then asked in a clearly joking manner.

"Tempting," said Cyborg. "But unnecessary."

"Indeed not," Herald agreed. He blew into his horn, summoning a portal right behind the founding Titans. They walked through the portal, popping out of the resulting supplementary portal that appeared in front of the Titans Central members.

Cyborg took the initiative first, and walked right up to Herald with his hand extended for a handshake. "Good to see you again buddy."

The cloaked boy chuckled, slipped his horn back into his cloak, and happily shook hands with his bionic peer. "Likewise pal."

Cyborg chuckled back, and shook his head side to side before directing his gaze back towards the East. "So," said Cyborg. "What do you think the chances are that Bee and the rest of Titans East will be the next to arrive?"

"Knowing Bee," the Herald responded while rubbing his hand across the back of his hooded head, "I wouldn't be surprised if she arrived within the next few minutes, and of course beat Titans North and South. Not at all." His smile widened. "We tend to have it in common to be among the first to arrive."

"Oh yes, that reminds me," said Cyborg. He directed a more serious look at Herald, folding his arms across his chest for good measure. "When were you and Bee going to tell me that you were dating?"

The Herald's eyes widened under his gray opera-styled mask, clearly having not expected Cyborg to be aware of this. "Later today," he managed to respond truthfully. "How did you know?"

Cyborg looked over at Beast Boy, who currently appeared to be discussing something with Robin and Kid Flash, thought to himself as if judging whether or not he was at a safe distance in light of Beast Boy's hearing, and then looked back at the Herald. In as low of a whisper as he could muster that would allow the Herald to hear him yet hopefully still also allow him to evade the changeling's hearing ability, the bionic teen responded, "I may have accidentally eavesdropped on Beast Boy yesterday when he broke the news to Raven. Apparently, he caught wind of the matter himself through his forays onto the team's personal social media account."

The Herald looked over at Beast Boy. "Ok then." He looked back at Cyborg, his eyebrow now raised. "And why, may I ask, was Beast Boy talking to Raven about my social life?"

A sheepish look came on Cyborg's face. "Uh . . . long story."

Herald gazed at Cyborg for a few seconds longer with his eyebrow still raised, and then shook his head side to side to clear his head. He could worry about getting the full story later.

Evidently Cyborg agreed, as the half robot placed his hand on the hooded boy's shoulder and said, "We'll discuss this matter further at a later date."

"Agreed."

At the same time this exchange was going on between the two African Americans, Robin and Beast Boy were having quite the happy chat with Kid Flash. "So," said Robin, a good natured smirk on his face directed at his fellow teen sidekick. "Still working on reaching your uncle's level huh?"

"Hey now," said Kid Flash, a mock annoyed look on his face and his finger pointed at the Boy Wonder. "I've never made fun of you over your first costume have I?"

"I don't see anything wrong," said Beast Boy. He pointed at his fearless leader. "I mean sure, it's a little flashy and traffic lighty, but that's not that big of a deal."

Kid Flash directed a mischievous grin towards the shape shifter. "You should have seen the costume he wore when he first started working alongside Batman."

Beast Boy raised his eyebrow. "What about it?"

"That's for the two of us to know," Robin interjected, raising his hand in front of Kid Flash's face to forestall any response from the teen speedster while directing his gaze at Beast Boy. "And you to find out at a later date." Immediately after saying this, the Boy Wonder directed a stern glare at Kid Flash that clearly meant 'this discussion is over'. Kid Flash only shook his head side to side, grin still on his face. Beast Boy momentarily continued to look confused, but eventually decided to drop the subject.

"Ok then," said Robin. He cleared his throat and let a small smile come back on his face directed towards Kid Flash. "So how are things going between you and Jinx?"

"Going well." The speedster chuckled, and rubbed his hand through his hair. "Honestly, I think I may have finally found just the right girl. In all the time I've spent with her, I've felt happier than I ever have with any other girl." He sighed in content. "Sure, I do have to be especially careful around her considering her powers and all. But nonetheless, yeah, she's definitely a keeper."

"I know the feeling," said Beast Boy, nodding his head up and down with a sympathetic look on his face, thinking of what it was like just living around Raven as a friend alone.

Kid Flash raised his eyebrow, his facial expression hinting that very clearly at what he was currently thinking about thanks to what Beast Boy had just said. "Oh really?"

Beast Boy felt his heart sink. "Hey now," he hurriedly said with his finger pointed at the super speedster. "Let's not go jumping to conclusions here dude. It's not what you're thinking; things between me and Raven are nothing like the way they are between you and Jinx."

"Who said they were?" Kid Flash cheekily.

Beast Boy mentally face palmed. "Good gravy," he thought to himself. "I'm just digging myself deeper now aren't I?"

Robin placed his hands on his friend's shoulders. "We can talk more about this later." He directed a sidelong glance at Kid Flash while saying this, and mouthed that he'd talk about it with Beast Boy later. Kid Flash surreptitiously winked at Robin to indicate that he understood.

"Well now that that's out of the way," Beast Boy stated, clearly relieved to now be able to change the subject. "What's life like for Jinx living and fighting crime alongside you guys in Keystone City these days? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was thinking she'd have a pretty tough time at first considering her history with the H.I.V.E."

"And you'd be correct," said Kid Flash. "In fact, so far, she only goes out in public in the form we all know and love when fighting crime or likewise on missions. But during times of peace, she never goes out in public without wearing that holo-ring Cyborg helped design for her." He stretched his arms skyward, sighing in content. "Sure it can be tough sometimes for her living like that, but she's always been able to reassure me that she's ok with it, and with time, I'm sure that she'll eventually be trusted enough to be able to reduce how often she has to hide her true self from the public eye."

"I certainly hope that's what will happen," Robin agreed. Beast Boy nodded silently, likewise in agreement.

"You know, strictly out of curiosity," said Beast Boy. "Just how does Jinx look when she's wearing the ring?"

Kid Flash drew out his communicator, accessed a photo, and showed it to his two peers. The picture in question was of an almost impossibly fair skinned girl about the same age as Kid Flash. The girl's hair was such a pale blonde that it looked almost white. Her eyes, in very obvious contrast, were an impossibly dark brown, almost black. "This is how she used to look before she got her powers," Kid Flash explained as if to confirm to his friends that the girl in the photo was indeed Jinx in her holo-ring disguise. He turned his communicator around to direct a look at the photo himself. "And now that I think about it, this disguise allowed her the ability attend Keystone High School with me. Granted, my aunt and uncle had to do quite a bit of work in getting the whole business set up considering how long Jinx's old civilian identity had been off the radar."

"Well I'm sure that will be a fantastic story to listen to later," said Robin. He was interested in learning the story, but right now he wasn't entirely certain that this was the best time. For starters, there were many other fellow Titans that were supposed to arrive to join in the party later that day. Secondly, he also believed that it would be best for Jinx to explicitly give permission for anyone else on the team apart from herself, Kid Flash, and presumably the Herald (being the leader of Titans Central) to be allowed to be in the loop in regard to her origins and civilian identity before he allowed it to be spread amongst the entire team. Kid Flash understood the reasoning behind Robin's current decision, and he nodded his head.

Meanwhile, the three girls were having an equally pleasant chat of their own. "So you and Robin finally got together last year huh?" said Jinx. She chuckled, and gave the Tamaranean an approving thumbs-up. "About time. Even when we were still enemies and fighting each other, it was so blaringly obvious how much you and the Traffic Light dug each other."

Starfire giggled in delight, rubbing her fingers through her long red hair. "Why thank you friend. Life has been the dream come true since we finally admitted to the feelings."

Jinx chuckled. "So I've heard." She turned her head towards Raven. "How about you Raven? Found your own lucky guy yet?"

Raven sighed. "Not yet."

"Pity," said Jinx, a look of sympathy on her face. "I was really hoping to have a chance at having proper cause to include you in the Valentine's Day girl talk we've all been planning on for this year."

"That may or may not be a blessing in and of itself," said Raven. "But nonetheless, in the unlikely event that I do find my own special person, I'll be sure to let you be aware of the news."

"Unlikely?" Jinx asked. She blew a 'yeah right' raspberry, and then said, "Please, don't sell yourself short."

Raven directed a slight glare at the pinkette. "I'm serious," said the teenage Azarathian. "Who'd possibly find a gray skinned sorceress with an unusual hair color, dark powers, and an even darker background attractive?"

"That's easy," said Jinx. She pointed off to her right. "Look over there."

Raven and Starfire turned their heads, and Raven mentally dope slapped herself upon catching sight of Kid Flash. "Of course," she thought to herself. Aside from the differences in outfit, exact nature of their abilities, and the color of their eyes and hair, Jinx quite perfectly fit the description Raven had just given just as well as she herself did. She turned her head to look back at a now smugly smiling Jinx. "Touché."

Jinx chuckled, and folded her arms across her chest. "You got that right. Here I am, just as creepy, shady, and supernatural as you; yet in the end, I've actually not only gotten myself well on the road to a bright happy ending but also have a boyfriend, and a quite good one to." Her smile widened and took on a slightly devious tone. "In more ways than one."

Starfire giggled, and Raven face palmed. "Did not need to know that," Raven groaned under her breath.

"But never mind that," Jinx continued, clearly undeterred by her fellow sorceress's reaction to her last comment. "My point is, we may have our subtle differences, and our not so subtle differences as well for that matter, but from a certain point of view, we're actually not entirely all that different. I mean look at us! Gray skin, abnormally colored hair, supernatural eyes, dark mystical powers, 24/7 creepy wardrobe, and we even both at one point or other felt pressured into taking part in something dark and nasty. Honestly, it scares me sometimes just how much alike we are."

"Yeah well, you still have a boyfriend," Raven countered. "I don't, plain and simple."

"For now, yes that is true," Jinx admitted. A sly grin came on the pinkette's face. "Doesn't mean that won't change some time in the future."

Raven directed a deadpan look at the probability manipulator. "You know you're supposed to be a harbinger of bad luck," said Raven. "I am really starting to worry about how hopelessly optimistic you're being about this topic."

"Oh but I have plenty of good reason for such a mood," Jinx responded. "Like I said, we're not entirely all that different; and if I was able to get a special boy to put a glow in my life, then it stands to reason that so can you."

"Agreed," said Starfire, finally rejoining the conversation. "Friend Jinx has quite the good points to offer right now Raven."

"Yeah well, good points or not, I'm still not buying," Raven responded mulishly. "Not all boys are like Kid Flash, let alone have the same taste for girls like me and Jinx."

"True," said Jinx. Then she briefly directed a sly smirk towards the direction of the general area where Kid Flash, Robin, and Beast Boy were gathered. "But there is at least one other person on this team that I know of who is currently present with us that may yet fit the bill just as well as him."

Raven turned her head to where Jinx was pointing, directed a deadpan look at Jinx, and opened her mouth as if about to make a sarcastic comment. But then she paused, clearly now thinking of something, and she looked at the area again. This time, she looked more carefully at just where Jinx was pointing, and noticed that the pinkette wasn't pointing at Kid Flash like the Azarathian had assumed, but rather at a different member of the trio who stood out like a green thumb . . . emphasis on green.

Raven looked back at Jinx, a mixture of incredulity and disgust on her face. "You have got to be kidding me . . ."

"Here they come ya'll! Titans East is in the house!"

At the sound of this exuberant yell from Cyborg, all the other gathered Titans turned their heads to look instinctively towards the East. And sure enough, the distinctive blue T-Ship of Titans East was now slowly cruising downwards towards the Titans Tower island to land. All the Titans stood at attention, ready to greet the new arrivals. Raven in particular now seemed especially focused on the newly arrived guests, internally feeling relieved to have finally escaped from further discussion of what Jinx had been talking about. Jinx smirked, and directed a devious smirk at Starfire, who directed a similar smug look right back. The Tamaranean princess and pinkette probability manipulator were in agreement; they would revisit their newly interrupted discussion again in the near future, whether Raven wanted to or not.

. . . . .

"Are you serious?!" Bumblebee asked. The Titans East ship had landed mere minutes ago, and the members of that branch were now out of the ship and had promptly joined up with whichever of the three groups already present on the island shore had struck their fancy. And thus, Bumblebee and Terra, who had not taken long at all to join up with the other girls present, plus Jinx, had now learned about Cyborg's brand new potential girlfriend Sarah Simms.

Starfire giggled joyously. "Oh how can I possibly not be the serious, friends?" Starfire asked. "I'd never lie or likewise be insincere about something so joyous!"

"Ain't that the truth?" Terra asked, folding her arms across her chest with a mixture of happiness and smugness on her face.

Bumblebee chuckled, and placed her hands on her hips. "Well hot dog!" said the fearless leader of Titans East. "Never would have guessed that good ol' Sparky had it in him." She briefly looked over at Cyborg, who was currently back in a deeply entrenched discussion with the Herald, and then looked back at Starfire with her smile still on her face. "Do describe the lucky girl again."

"Gladly," said Starfire. But then she reached into her pocket and drew out her communicator. "In fact, I'll even show her to you." She accessed a photo she'd managed to find on the internet of Sarah hanging around with some of the kids she worked with and positioned her communicator so that the three girls from out of town could get a good look at the civilian girl who'd apparently now been lucky enough to catch Cyborg's eye.

Bumblebee whistled. "Hoowee, Sparky's one lucky man this year!"

The other girls chuckled in agreement; except for Raven, who just rolled her eyes and directed an annoyed glare seemingly to the side. Starfire exited out of the picture of Sarah, closed her communicator, and slipped it back into her pocket before clasping her hands together and looking back at her three honorary Titan gal pals, still completely unaware of how Raven had just reacted to witnessing their little moment of particularly girly behavior. The other girls also seemed unaware.

Except for Jinx. A small smirk came on her face as she noticed Raven's current behavior, and she looked over to Terra. She cleared her throat loud enough to attract the geomancer's attention. Terra turned her head to look at the pinkette sorceress, a small smile still on her face. "So Terra," said Jinx. "I hear things have been . . . flowing if you will . . . quite smoothly between you and Fish Boy."

Terra giggled, her smile widening and her blue eyes agleam upon hearing this comment from Jinx. Only three days after Terra had been announced and introduced to the other Titans as the team's newest member, the blonde geomancer had very quickly managed to form quite a strong friendship with the pinkette probability manipulator. Maybe it was the fact that they both had somewhat shady pasts with the Titans before officially becoming permanent heroes and members of the team. Perhaps it was the fact that they both still had a somewhat substantial amount of work to do to convince the civilians they were now sworn to protect that they were worthy of being trusted by them just as strongly as their team mates trusted them. Or maybe it was even the fact that they'd both managed to be on not entirely pleasant terms with Raven at some point or other in their lives. But whatever the reason was, they both got along quite well, considered each other very good friends, and quite enjoyed talking together.

"Indeed they have," Terra said with a warm smile on her face as she thought of Aqualad, her eyes subconsciously directing a loving sidelong glance at her Atlantean boyfriend as he talked with Robin, Beast Boy, Speedy, and Kid Flash. "Quite honestly, ever since Garth and I got together, my life's been almost like a fairy tale." Jinx briefly raised her eyebrow, but then discreetly shook her head side to side to clear her thoughts back to paying attention, simultaneously deducing that, by Garth, Terra was likely referring to Aqualad. "Couldn't be happier," Terra then said.

Jinx smiled at her friend, briefly looked in the same direction, and then directly back at the blonde. "You know, I've heard plenty of rumors about him smelling an awful lot like rotting fish every now and then. Of course, having very rarely, if ever, gotten the chance to really hang out in his presence all that often myself, I cannot really say whether or not there is any truth to these tales. Care to give me a straight answer?"

Terra chuckled. "Well I can tell you right now that the rumors are false. Garth most certainly does not smell like rotting fish." She sighed in content, and folded her arms across her chest. "And even if they were true, I'd still love him anyway, fish smell and all."

"I know how you feel girl," said Jinx. The pinkette let out a contented sigh of her own, now thinking about Kid Flash. "As happy as our relationship is, Wally still gets me on my wit's end every now and then."

"Wally?" Terra asked.

"Kid Flash," Jinx clarified.

"Oh." Terra then thought to herself, clearly confused. "How do you know his name is Wally?"

"Never mind that, we can discuss it at a later date," said Jinx. "Point is, as charming as my boyfriend is, he still drives me up the wall; and not through hygiene, mind you. Honestly, I've personally experienced just how amazing and brilliant he can be, but he almost always acts so immature."

Terra chuckled, unconsciously thinking of how very similar to Beast Boy this behavior from Kid Flash sounded. "I know the feeling."

"I know right?" said Jinx. "And then there's his appetite. He has to eat so much. Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that all those snacks he eats alongside all his regular meals are virtually one of the only defense mechanisms keeping him from being killed by his own metabolism, I'd probably have blown my stack at him over it within the first three or four days of dating him."

Terra just barely managed to hold back a snigger. "I'll say."

"And don't get me started on how much of a flirt he is," Jinx continued. "Granted, he's always stayed faithful to me and he doesn't go flirting around with other girls nearly as often as he used to before we got together; but every now and then, he still has the gall to make an occasional flirt pass at some random girl just to see if I'm paying attention, and to get a rise out of me in the event that I am." She raised her hands in the area, a mock annoyed look on her face. "Can you believe him?"

Terra laughed in response, and Jinx smiled. The pinkette lowered her arms. "But nevertheless, in spite of all that, I wouldn't trade him for anything, or any boy. Because let's face it, as irksome as he is, I still love him, and he's quite frankly the only person I know who's truly loved me that strongly enough to the point of bringing out the light I didn't even know I had in me. And I'm most certainly not gonna wish that away any more than you'd wish away Aqualad for a boy who's less likely to at some point to smell like rotting fish."

Terra directed a mock glare at Jinx. "Again with the rotting fish," she grumbled good naturedly, eliciting a fit of happy laughter from the pinkette.

"What's so funny?"

The two former villainesses turned heroines turned their heads to look at Raven, who was now staring at them with her eyebrow raised in suspicion and confusion at their recent behavior. Starfire and Bumblebee also directed their gaze towards the blonde and pinkette, now quite distracted from what they'd been discussing.

"Oh nothing you'd probably care too much about," said Terra good naturedly. "But Jinx certainly appeared to find it funny; not like you'd know anyway."

Raven's eyes narrowed. "For your information," said the Azarathian, "I do have a sense of humor. I just have higher standards on my definition of what's funny and what's just plain amateurishly juvenile."

"Well in that case your future boyfriend better keep at it," said Jinx, winking slyly at the purple haired girl. "He's bound to find out what gets your funny bone working at some point or other if he keeps trying long enough."

Raven mentally groaned. "A: We are not resuming this discussion, and B: there is no chance whatsoever that I could ever consider someone having someone like him, especially _him_ of all people, as my boyfriend . . . and that's assuming I ever even actually have a boyfriend, let alone want one."

"What's this all about?" Bumblebee asked. Terra looked likewise confused.

Starfire giggled, and the three visiting girls looked in her direction, Terra and Bumblebee still looking confused, and Jinx with a smile on her face. "Not too long before you arrived," Starfire explained, "Jinx and I were talking with Raven, and friend Jinx appeared to come under the impression that friend Raven and Beast Boy would make quite the pleasing couple. And having listened to what friend Jinx had to say to back up her opinion on this manner, I must admit that I quite agree with her."

Raven directed a deadpan glare at the Tamaranean, though internally she could feel her heart sinking and could sense a chilling sense of despair and horror come upon her. "No, no, no," she thought towards the chipper alien princess. "Not now Star."

Bumblebee, to her discredit (or the way Raven currently saw it, credit), still looked confused upon hearing this information. Terra, however, now seemed deep in thought. Then the blonde's eyes brightened deviously, and a wide grin came on her face. She was clearly starting to see the appeal in Jinx and Starfire's side of the matter. The geomancer shifted her eyes from Raven to Jinx, seemingly comparing the two of them. Then she thought to herself about both the similarities she'd managed to take note of between the two gray skinned sorceresses, and the similarities that the pinkette had managed to incidentally highlight between Beast Boy and Kid Flash. Terra directed a wide smile towards Raven, clearly having managed to put two and two together and get four. "Maybe this is just the loyal girlfriend to Aqualad in me talking," Terra began in a self-deprecating manner, "but I quite like this idea."

Starfire giggled, and looked over at Raven, Jinx and Terra following her gaze. "Sorry friend, but it would appear that you seem to be quite the outnumbered."

Raven mentally groaned. "Come on guys," said Raven. "You can't be serious."

Jinx smiled, and lifted her head in an almost haughty style. "Does it look like we're joking?" the pinkette asked in an almost playful sounding tone.

"I certainly don't think so," Terra responded, a small smirk on her face.

Raven sighed. "Look girls, I get it, you're all in the mood for romance and all, what with it being so close to Valentine's Day and all, but let's be realistic. Even if I wanted to have a relationship with him, let alone actually felt _that_ way towards him, a relationship like that couldn't possibly work between me and Beast Boy. I mean come on, this is _Beast Boy_ of all people."

"Oh I beg to differ," said Jinx. "Things have worked out quite swimmingly between me and Kid Flash."

"I fail to see how that's relevant," said Raven, her eyes narrowed, clearly aware now that she was not getting anywhere in her effort to uphold her side of the argument. The fact that Starfire and Terra responded by giggling didn't help either.

"Need I remind you again," said Jinx, "that you and I are actually not that different? We have similar appearances, similar powers, similar taste in fashion, and somewhat similar backgrounds. We could yet have similar taste in boys."

"Beast Boy and Kid Flash are nothing alike," Raven groaned, but at this point even her tone of voice wasn't on her side. And judging by the victorious grins that came on the faces of the redhead, pinkette, and blonde standing before her, her gal pals knew it to.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that if I were you," said Terra. She placed her arm around Jinx's shoulders as if to visually show that she was backing her friend up. "From what I've heard of Kid Flash, and what Jinx has spoken to me from personal experience, I think I can safely say that both him and Beast Boy are quite similar. I mean for starters, even you can agree that they're both hilariously immature right?"

"That is definitely true," Raven willingly admitted. "Though I'd personally say that they are much more irritating than hilarious in how immature they can be." She directed a glare at her three gal pals once more. "But just because they're similar in that regard doesn't mean . . ."

"Secondly," said Jinx, interrupting Raven and seemingly not at all caring about the minor dig Raven had just incidentally taken at her boyfriend. "From what I've heard, and more often than not what Starfire and the others tell me, as immature and admittedly quite idiotic he often tends to behave, he has his moments in which he can actually prove himself a heck of a lot smarter than he lets on."

"She is correct," Starfire piped in. "We have all been present to witness Beast Boy having the occasional moment of being quite, as he puts it, the genius."

"She's right you know," Terra agreed.

"What does that have to do with Kid . . .?"

"Much like Beast Boy," Jinx explained. "Kid Flash, as immature and scatterbrained as he can be, is not without his hidden depths when it comes to his brain. Believe it or not, he's actually got quite the brilliant mind and is an absolute whiz when it comes to science. I mean, just ask him what time it is while pointing at a conveniently located antique grandfather clock, and he'll be liable to tell you the entire process and complicated exposition package on how the clock was built, and how it works. Not to mention he can list the entirety of the Periodic Table without looking at a physical illustration of it, can describe the entire process of the formation and eruption of a volcano step by step, and spin out all manner of plausible, albeit quite futuristic, scientific explanations for apparent acts of magic that are incapable of being reasonably passed off as the generic smoke and mirrors variety you usually find among common magicians. Believe me, you wouldn't believe how many magic shows we've visited on dates that he's ended up getting kicked out of over heckling and loudly hollering exactly how the magicians' tricks work in full earshot of the audience."

Raven sighed. As much as she now very much hated to admit it, the three girls in front of her had a perfectly valid point. "Even so," she then said. "Kid Flash is at least able to act like a gentleman when the situation demands it. And let's face it; you've seen what Beast Boy's like."

"Beast Boy's also capable of being the gentleman," said Starfire.

"She is right," said Terra. "Beast Boy is not incapable of acting like a gentleman." She directed a devious looking smirk towards the half demoness. "Believe me, I'd know."

Raven felt her heart sink yet again. Her gal pals had once again countered her argument perfectly, and with a valid point to. "Of course," Raven thought to herself. "Beast Boy used to have a crush on Terra, and even got to go on one date with her. So of course she'd know."

"You know," said Bumblebee, finally deeming it convenient for her to enter in on the conversation. "After listening to all that, I have to admit that I actually quite agree with you three," she then said to Starfire, Jinx, and Terra.

Raven groaned. "Not you to."

Bumblebee blew a raspberry to her side at thin air. "Oh please," said the African American girl. "Be reasonable Raven. I know you've been listening to our gal pals here, and I can tell that even you have to admit that they ain't wrong."

"Yeah well, agreement or not, just because things have worked out the way they have between Kid Flash and Jinx doesn't mean that a similar effort will work out nearly as well, if at all, between me and Beast Boy."

"Well that certainly doesn't mean there's any harm in at least giving it a shot," said Terra.

Raven sighed. "I mean it Terra. Be realistic. There's no way there could possibly be any reasonable means to believe that a relationship of that nature would be able to work between me and Beast Boy. We're too different."

"Opposites attract," said Starfire.

"Cliché much?" Raven asked.

"Cliché yes," Jinx admitted. "But also 100% true." She gestured to indicate herself, Starfire, and Terra. "Right this very minute, you have one half of three legitimate examples standing right in front of you."

Bumblebee chuckled, and looked back at Raven. "Beat that girl."

Raven mentally face palmed. "You guys are different. Sure you and your boyfriends have plenty of differences, but you're at least able to complement each other."

"The same could yet be said for you and Beast Boy if you'd just give him a chance," Terra countered.

Raven sighed. Once again, Terra had given a valid point. "Well at the same time," Raven then said, desperate to avoid giving up and losing the argument. "Even with all the attracting opposites between you and your boyfriends, you also each have at least one or two important things in common. Beast Boy and I are _nothing_ alike."

At the sight of the looks that came on the faces of the other four girls upon hearing Raven say this, Raven's heart sank even further. Bumblebee had her eyes narrowed and the rest of her face silently saying 'really?', Jinx and Terra had looks on their faces that clearly showed that they were struggling to avoid bursting out laughing, and Starfire had a facial expression that seemed more like an intermediate expression between Bumblebee's narrow eyed disbelief and Jinx and Terra's amusement. "By Azar," Raven thought to herself. "Is there _anything_ I can say that will convince them of the utter foolishness of what they're suggesting?"

Starfire shook her head side to side, amused smile still on her face. "I'm most sorry to say this Raven, but I'm afraid I must inform you right now that your most recent effort at denying the truth of our claims is the shit of bull."

Raven _and_ the three Titan girls from out of town all gaped at Starfire, all with an exact matching wide eyed and dumbfounded look of shock on their faces at what they'd just heard Starfire say.

Terra was the first to regain her voice and speak out what she and the other three stunned girls were thinking. "Starfire," said the geomancer. "Where did you learn that phrase?"

Starfire nonchalantly pointed at Cyborg, who was currently still deep in conversation with the Herald while Mas and Menos sat on the ground nearby looking half bored and half in despair. "I have heard friend Cyborg say it, and several other apparently quite rare words and phrases of the Earth vocabulary every now and then." Raven, Jinx, and Terra looked each other in the eyes, clearly both somewhat unnerved at the prospect of what sort of vocabulary Starfire had potentially managed to be unwittingly taught by Cyborg and in agreement that Robin would probably _not_ be all that happy if he were to become aware of the matter.

Bumblebee, however, soon fought off her shock and directed a look of intrigued curiosity at the Tamaranean. "Like what?" she then asked.

Starfire directed full attention towards Bumblebee, clearly about to oblige, only for Jinx to slap her hand over the Tamaranean's mouth right as she was about to speak. Thus Starfire ended up quite hilariously speaking in a muffled voice through the pinkette's hand for about one or two minutes before she finally became aware of even having a hand over her mouth in the first place. She directed a confused look at Jinx from above the hand across her mouth, and the probability manipulator shook her head. "Not here, not now," said Jinx. Starfire seemed to think to herself, and then nodded in agreement, and Jinx removed her hand from the redhead's mouth, letting out a small sigh of relief.

"Sorry," said Starfire. "Got a bit off the track." She looked back at Raven. "My point is, regardless of what you might say in your efforts at denial, you and Beast Boy aren't entirely without things in common."

Raven raised her eyebrow at the Tamaranean. "Like what?"

"Well for starters," said Jinx. "Abnormal color."

Raven directed a deadpan glare at the pinkette. "Well duh, but I meant a similarity that matters . . ."

"You both know what it is like to have a romantically broken heart."

Raven gaped at Starfire. The redhead nodded, and pointed at Terra. "Beast Boy used to have the crush on Terra before she left his heart crushed in the aftermath of her betrayal four years ago." Terra nodded her head with her eyes closed and a sad look on her mouth. "And also," Starfire continued. "You yourself, the very year after Terra's betrayal and petrification, got your own heart baited and shattered by the foul dragon Malchior."

Jinx's eyes widened at the name, and she gaped at Starfire. "Say what?! Oh man, I heard that scaly old airbag brag about that during my time working for the Brotherhood, but I never actually believed he was telling the truth." The pinkette looked over at Raven with a look of sympathy on her face. "I'm sorry about that."

Raven sighed, and hung her head, both accepting Jinx's apology and acknowledging the truth in Starfire's words.

"And another thing," Terra then said. Raven turned her attention towards the blonde. "You both have a pretty nasty literal darkness inside you that every now and then works its dared hardest to claw its way out. I've seen how scary you can be when you get particularly out of control; and you yourself both told me about and showed me footage of that creepy ass werewolf monster thing that Beast Boy can sometimes transform into."

Raven thought to herself, and then nodded her head with her eyes closed once more. "What can I say?" she thought to herself. "She's right. They're all right." She lifted her head to face the four other girls. "Well," she said aloud. "I guess you're right."

"See?" said Jinx. "We told you. It's not that farfetched."

"Well even so," said Raven, hanging her head once more. "I'm really not sure if I actually feel that way for him now, or even ever could. And he certainly doesn't feel that way about me."

"You know this for certain?" Terra asked.

"Well," said Raven. "Not really." The Azarathian looked briefly over in Beast Boy's direction. "Lately, let's just say that I've managed to get a considerably boost in exposure to his emotional output, and right now, he gives off so much emotional feedback that I'm starting to have quite a lot of trouble getting used to the increased exposure and in picking out individual emotions from the vast overall sea."

"So in other words," said Jinx. "He could very well be feeling something for you of that nature without you, or potentially even him, even knowing."

"That still doesn't change the fact that I don't feel that way for him."

"And you know this for certain?" Bumblebee asked.

Raven was about to instantly respond, but then she paused and thought to herself. "Well," she eventually managed to say. "Honestly . . ." she hung her head. "I don't really know."

"Well there's no harm in trying to figure out the answer to that," said Bumblebee. She placed her hand on the empath's shoulder. "Take your time. Think it over. Give yourself and the grass stain a chance."

"I agree with friend Bumblebee," said Starfire. "Give friend Beast Boy and yourself a chance, and honestly consider the possibility. You both deserve happiness with the rest of us. And it has been the two and a half years since Malchior. I believe you've waited the long enough to give your heart another chance."

Raven sighed. "Well I guess that's true," she admitted. "But still . . ."

Jinx and Terra both placed a hand on Raven's shoulders, and Raven briefly tensed, and then looked up at the pinkette and blonde. They smiled, and nodded their heads.

"Nobody gets true happiness by playing it safe," said Jinx.

"Mm-hm," said Terra. "Sometimes Raven, in order to truly gain, you need to be willing to open yourself up and risk pain."

Raven looked intently at Jinx and Terra, thought to herself, and then sighed. "Well, I guess I'll at least think about it . . . for now."

Jinx and Terra nodded their heads, and so did Starfire and Bumblebee. "That's all we currently need to hear friend," said Starfire. Jinx and Terra removed their hands from Raven's shoulders and took a couple steps back to give Raven some of her breathing room back.

"Ok then," said Bumblebee, clasping her hands together for good measure. "Moving on. Anything else you think we can discuss right now while we're waiting for North and South?"

"Why yes friend," said Starfire. The Tamaranean turned her head towards the winged girl, a joyous smile on her face. "How have things been going between you and your boyfriend the Herald?"

"Say what?!" Jinx and Terra asked, gaping in surprise at the Tamaranean. Clearly, neither of them had been aware of this.

Raven also gaped at Starfire, but for a different reason. "How did she find out?" she thought to herself. "I just learned that information myself yesterday when Beast Boy told me . . ." Then her eyes narrowed, and she directed a small glare towards the still happy Starfire. "Did she eavesdrop on me . . .?"

Bumblebee's face, meanwhile, was priceless. "How did you know that?!" she then yelled, only to gulp, and clap her hands over her mouth. In a flash, Jinx and Terra turned their heads and gaped in surprise at Bumblebee.

"You've been dating the Herald and you never told anyone?!" said Terra.

"Herald never mentioned this!" said Jinx.

Bumblebee grimaced, Starfire giggled, and Raven face palmed. "This is going to be _so_ much fun," she thought to herself sarcastically.

. . . . .

Meanwhile, all the Titan boys currently present apart from Cyborg, Herald, and the now 11-year old twin speedsters Mas and Menos were having quite the lively discussion of their own.

"I'll bet you're really looking forward to this Valentine's Day now that you and Star finally got together last year," said Aqualad. The Atlantean chuckled. "About time to. Poseidon knows it took you long enough. Heck, the tension was so thick the day we first teamed up against Trident five years ago alone, even the lowliest coral polyp could have seen it!"

Robin chuckled, half in genuine good humor and half in nervous embarrassment. "Good to know," he managed to say.

Speedy chuckled. "So . . ." said the archer. "Any good _stories_ to tell?"

The other four teenage boys in the group all glared at the archer. "1: Ew," said Robin. "2: No. And 3: even if I did, I wouldn't tell you about them." The Boy Wonder folded his arms across his chest. "Star and I have a very strong policy between us that we do not kiss and tell."

"Amen," said Kid Flash.

"A worthy cause," said Beast Boy.

"Spoken like a true noble Atlantean," Aqualad agreed.

"Oh come on guys!" Speedy yelled. "Have some fun!"

"There's a big difference between having fun and being indecent," said Robin.

"Yeah," said Kid Flash. "Sure I'm a bit of a flirt, but I'm not a pervert."

"Agreed," said Aqualad. "This may be because I'm an Atlantean, but I treat my love life with Terra very seriously. And I most certainly am not going to spout out about to every random person willing or unwilling to listen. Terra deserves better than that."

"Darn straight," said Beast Boy. "And sure Cyborg and I may tease Robin about this every now and then, even before he and Star finally got together. But all that's just talk and jokes. We have standards."

Speedy shook his head, a disbelieving look on his face. "God you guys are such prudes."

"Don't bash it till you try it," said Kid Flash.

Robin face palmed. "Seriously Wally?" he thought to himself. Then he abruptly pointed his finger towards his right just as the other boys turned their heads to look at him at the sound of his face palming. "And for the 5th time Mas and Menos, no. Starfire is still off limits. She's mine. Hands off."

Sure enough, Mas and Menos were indeed standing not too far away from the small group of teenage boys. With a synchronized groan of defeat, they turned around and started walking dejectedly back towards Cyborg and Herald.

"Oh caca," said Mas.

"No eres divertido," Menos chimed in.

Beast Boy face palmed. "Good grief," he grumbled. "It's been several months now since you and Star got together Robin."

"I know," Robin groaned. He finally turned his head in the direction of the two twin speedsters. "Seriously, you'd think they'd have found something else to attract their attention by now."

"I feel you," said Aqualad. He looked in the direction of the dejected Mas and Menos. "Still, I sure am glad they're not trying to give me the same grief in attempting to make plays on Terra."

Speedy chuckled, and directed a wolf-like grin at the Atlantean. "Don't give me ideas," he then purred deviously.

Aqualad turned his head and directed a death glare at the archer. "Speedy I swear, if you say so much as a word of encouragement to them about making the moves on my girl, I will personally give you an up close and painful introduction to one of my shark buddies."

"Oh that ought to be fun to watch," said Kid Flash, his hands clasping together and a gleefully eager smile on his face.

Speedy merely chuckled and gave Aqualad a hearty slap on the shoulder. "Calm down man, I'm just messing with you."

"Ah man," said Kid Flash.

Robin and Beast Boy chuckled, earning a deadpan glare from the speedster. Speedy grinned, and Aqualad sighed in relief. "Well that's good to hear," said the Atlantean.

Beast Boy then directed his gaze at the archer, a mischievous smirk on his face. "You know Speedy," the changeling began. "I noticed in your posts on the Titans' page that you have 'plans' for this Valentine's Day. Care to elaborate?"

At this, Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash all turned their own gazes towards the archer, who narrowed his eyes and glared at the changeling. "I do believe that's none of your business."

"Is it my business?" Robin asked, a smug grin on his face. "Come on pal, for old time's sake?"

"Yeah," said Kid Flash. "We've been your pals since the beginning! You can tell us!"

"I must agree with them," said Aqualad, a smirk of his own now on his face. "Heck, considering how you're on the same team as me, I'm surprised that you still haven't even told me the full details about it all, let alone anyone else in Titans East."

Speedy sighed. "Look guys, I'll give you the full rundown when I feel like it. But right now, until Valentine's Day arrives, you're just going to have to wait."

Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash thought to themselves, and then nodded their heads in understanding and agreement. Beast Boy, however, directed a narrow eyed glare at the archer.

Speedy then directed a smug smirk at the changeling. "You know Beast Boy," said Speedy. "At the same time that you're being so eager to try to convince me to spill the beans on my own plans for this year's Valentine's Day, I could just as easily be grilling you on what _your_ plans are this year. Isn't that right?"

Beast Boy gulped, and a clearly nervous look came on his face. Speedy smirked. Clearly, he'd managed to score a home run. And judging by the grins that came on the faces of Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash, they clearly had reached the same conclusion.

"You know Beast Boy," said Aqualad. "I'd quite like to know myself what it is you've got planned this year. She may be my girlfriend, but you're still a good friend of hers, and I'd like to make sure that you've got a means of enjoying this year's Valentine's Day as much as she will alongside me."

"Yeah Beast Boy!" said Kid Flash. "Tell us man! Tell us!"

Beast Boy mentally groaned, closing his eyes and letting a toothy grimace come on his face. He opened his eyes. "Look guys, come on, I'm doing nothing anything all that big. Ok? I'm just gonna go spend the day at the zoo with Raven. That's all."

At the sight of the almost conspiratorial look that Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Speedy directed at each other, Beast Boy mentally face palmed. It appeared that he'd now dug himself even deeper.

"Raven huh?" said Aqualad. He chuckled, and folded his arms across his chest, a half smug and half approving look on his face. "Not a bad choice."

Beast Boy rapidly waved his hands side to side in Aqualad's direction. "Hey now, let's not go that far Aqualad!" the changeling yelled frantically. "It isn't what you think it is! We're just going as friends that's all!"

"That's what they all say," said Kid Flash.

"I'm serious," said Beast Boy. "Raven and I aren't at that kind of level! We are not dating!"

"Not yet," Speedy commented dryly.

Beast Boy glared at the archer. "I. Am. Not. Dating. Raven."

"You know Beast Boy," said Aqualad. "For a guy who supposedly doesn't feel any sort of feelings for Raven of the nature we're suspecting, you're acting rather different from how someone who legitimately doesn't have those feelings would be acting."

The changeling raised his eyebrow. "Elaborate."

"Well for starters," Aqualad explained, "when a person legitimately doesn't have feelings of that nature for someone suggested, they tend to act either disgusted, angry, or outright laugh at the idea."

"So?"

"Well here's the thing," said Kid Flash. "You, sir, are not acting like that at all. Rather, you're acting much more as if you're feeling embarrassed and shocked and trying to deny it to us in order to avoid having to admit it out loud and force it out of hiding."

Upon hearing this, Beast Boy thought to himself, and then a nervous expression came on his face as he realized that the Atlantean and speedster had a point. "So . . .?" he then asked, clearly more for the sake of trying to prolong things rather than out of genuine confusion.

"So in other words," said Speedy. "Despite what you're attempting to say to the contrary, you're acting suspiciously as if you _are_ in fact crushing on, and perhaps even in love with, our dear dreary friend Raven."

"Yeah," Kid Flash agreed. "And don't try to deny it, we've got evidence from other examples to back us up on how you're behaving. Just ask Dawn from Pokemon whenever Lyra got on her case in regard to Ash."

"Or better yet," said Aqualad. "Ask Robin. He certainly acted the same way in regard to Starfire that you're currently behaving in regard to Raven."

Upon hearing that, Robin found himself gaping at the three visiting teen boys. Early on in listening in, he'd merely believed that the entire thing was entirely a joke. But now, having heard Aqualad comparing his own behavior in regard to Starfire to the way Beast Boy was now behaving in regard to Raven, he couldn't help but wonder if there was perhaps also truth in what his three out of town friends were saying. He looked over at Beast Boy, noting the currently still somewhat nervous look on his green face, and found himself unconsciously wondering if he himself had perhaps looked like this every now and then when teased about his feelings for Starfire.

"Maybe I should look into this some more," Robin thought to himself. He stepped forward. "Hey guys," said the Boy Wonder. "Mind if I go talk to Beast Boy in private for a little bit? There's something I just thought of that really is better being talked about between just two people, and I think it may be a good idea for me to talk to him about it."

Beast Boy directed a seemingly relieved glance at the Boy Wonder, and the three visiting boys thought to themselves. Then they nodded.

"If you say so," said Speedy.

"Sure thing," Aqualad agreed.

"What about the other guests?" Kid Flash asked. "They still haven't arrived yet."

"I know," said Robin. "But it's really important I get this thing taken care of as soon as possible. And in the event I'm not here by the time Titans North and South arrive, Cyborg's still gonna be here, and he can be trusted with handling things until Beast Boy and I come back."

The teen speedster thought to himself. "In that case, ok then. Go on ahead. We'll continue catching up later."

"Thank you," said Robin. "Come on Beast Boy." The Boy Wonder and the shapeshifter promptly headed over to the tower and entered into the front door elevator.

. . . . .

"So," said Beast Boy. He and Robin were now right back in the common room. "You wanted to talk to me about something?"

Robin nodded his head, and then looked around as if trying to determine if there was anyone potentially watching or eavesdropping. He looked back at Beast Boy. "I have a feeling you'd probably appreciate talking about this matter more if done just between the two of us right now without anyone else around to join in or overhear."

Beast Boy raised his eyebrow. "What are you . . .?" Then his eyes widened. "Oh no . . ."

Robin nodded his head.

Beast Boy groaned. "Oh come on dude!" he yelled. "Seriously?! First the Beast and all the other animals in my head, then Aqualad, KF, and Speedy, now you?! Is there _anyone_ who isn't going to get up on my case and suspect that I am either in love with or have a crush on Raven today?!"

Robin extended his hand towards Beast Boy to get the green boy to calm down. "Relax Beast Boy," said the Boy Wonder. "Right now, I just want us to talk it out and see if we can adequately come to an understanding of exactly what's going on."

For a brief moment, Beast Boy tensed up and grimaced, still clearly not entirely comfortable. But then he took a deep breath, exhaled, and nodded his head. He opened his eyes and looked straight at Robin. "Ok," said the changeling. "We can talk."

"Good." Robin then lifted up his left index finger as if signaling 'hold it'. "But first," Robin then said. Without warning he picked up his rolled up newspaper from that morning, which was still lying on the kitchen island, and slapped Beast Boy in the face with it. Beast Boy was caught quite off guard by this, and by the time he managed to turn his head to face Robin once more, he had just enough time to raise his eyebrow in confusion before the Boy Wonder pointed his finger at the changeling and sad, "That's for your little stunt this morning with the calendar."

For a brief moment, Beast Boy remained confused. Then he finally put two and two together, and he made a sheepish grin upon remembering just what Robin was talking about. "Oh yeah," said the shapeshifter. "Sorry about that."

Robin nodded his head. "Just try to refrain from similar incidents, and we're good." The Boy Wonder took a deep breath. "And one more thing I might as well get over with before we talk about the original intended topic." He placed a hand on Beast Boy's shoulder. "I'll tell you this now, I'm sorry for having all those couples among the team, myself and Star included, following you around after Halloween last year."

Beast Boy's eyes widened upon hearing this. "How did you . . .?"

"Cyborg, Starfire, and I may have been eavesdropping on you and Raven yesterday."

Beast Boy's eyes narrowed. "Seriously?" the changeling asked.

"Seriously," Robin responded.

Beast Boy growled. "I should have guessed that you would do something like this."

"And again, I'm sorry." The Boy Wonder placed his hands on the changeling's shoulders. "Look the point is, I understand now just how badly you were being affected, and I am sorry that I only ended up making things worse in my effort to make sure you were alright. If I had known how adversely you were being affected by the watching, I would have called it off; honest, I would have."

Beast Boy thought to himself. "Well, if you say so."

"That's good." Robin took his hands off of beast Boy's shoulders. "And now, it's time we switched over to my originally planned topic of discussion." Beast Boy lifted his finger as if about to speak, but Robin held out his hand to indicate for the changeling to be quiet. "Beast Boy, please just stay calm and let the two of us talk this out. Trust me, it's better we get this over with then let all the other guys join in and keep making it worse."

Beast Boy thought to himself. "Fair point."

Robin nodded his head. "Good. Now let's start with this; do you have a crush on Raven?"

Beast Boy glared. "Dude, did you not hear me the first few times I said this? Of course not!"

"In which case we move on to our next question," said Robin. "For starters, if you truly don't have a crush or any similar romantically based feelings for her, then why were you not too long ago acting just like I did in regard to Starfire before Tokyo?" This question caught Beast Boy more than a little off guard, much to the amusement of the Beast. "And secondly," Robin continued, seizing the conveniently provided advantage. "If you don't have such feelings, then just what _do_ you feel in regard to Raven?"

For what seemed like hours, Beast Boy silently blustered and floundered, trying desperately to think of something to say in response to the Boy Wonder's questions. Robin, still quite patient and not apparently in any hurry, merely folded his arms across his chest and gazed blankly at the shapeshifter, tapping his right foot on the floor once every two minutes. It took all of 18 minutes before Beast Boy finally managed to respond. "It's complicated," said the shapeshifter.

"Now _that_ ," said the Boy Wonder, his finger raised as if to emphasize his point, "is proof to support my side of the argument. With pauses like that, it's usually a good sign for the opposite side."

Beast Boy sighed. "Look Robin," said the changeling. "I used to think it was perfectly easy to describe how I feel when it comes to Raven. But over the years, and particularly the last couple months, plus yesterday and this morning, let's just say that things have changed since the early years of our friendship. And as a result, it's not as easy to . . . well . . . define if you will, the nature of our relationship as it used to be."

"Understandable." Robin nodded his head. "But even so, can you at least tell for certain if you perhaps at least feel in any way _different_ now about Raven compared to how you used to feel?"

Beast Boy thought to himself yet again. "Well . . . yes."

"When did they change?"

"Um . . ." Beast Boy thought, quite uncertain now. "Well, I can't say for certain, I actually noticed it for certain around yesterday or this morning. But heck, for all I know, I could have been feeling this way for months, or even years, before then. I wouldn't know. I'm useless at identifying the more complicated emotions."

Robin nodded.

"But it's definitely not a crush or anything like that," Beast Boy continued. "I mean come on, if I did have such feelings for Raven, then I'd be thinking about her all the time, or at least a heck of a lot earlier than I've currently started, and I'd always keep stealing glances every now and then, and I'd know and make note of all manner of tiny details about her, like how her favorite colors are blue and purple, or how her favorite tea herb is jasmine, or how her favorite genre is horror, or that she favorite flower is the orchid, or how she secretly enjoys watching MLP: Friendship is Magic or . . ."

Beast Boy managed to stop speaking, and Robin just calmly stared at him with a half blank and half amused facial expression. The changeling sighed. "Ok," he admitted. "Maybe I do have a crush on her. But even if that's the case, it's just a crush. That's all."

"Maybe," said Robin. "But like you yourself just said, you have trouble with identifying the more complicated emotions when feeling them. Whatever it is you feel for Raven, it could yet be a heck of a lot stronger than a mere crush. And that being said," he pointed towards the front windows of the common room. "Whatever it is you feel for Raven," the Boy Wonder continued. "Would you perhaps say that it's different at the very least, or potentially stronger at the most, then what you felt for Terra?"

Beast Boy thought to himself. "Well . . . maybe, I'm not sure." He raised his hands up in mere seconds so as to forestall any potential comment from Robin. "Look dude, I know that I'm probably sounding like a child with comments like that. But seriously, I don't know. I'm like Naruto here before his experiences in The Last. My parents died when I was eight, the people I stayed with in between my parents and you guys showed me varying degrees of love, some of them bordering on outright hate, and I haven't had enough personal experience to tell the difference between the different kinds and forms of love, let alone completely recognize love itself. I've never had anyone to help me figure it out or give me advice on it before."

Robin nodded his head. "Understandable," said the Boy Wonder. "Believe me, I've had somewhat similar experiences that you're now going through; Batman certainly didn't help either. Trust me, if it hadn't been for personal experience with romantic drama, loads of time to think and come to terms, and possibly a little therapy and guidance from Raven and you guys, I probably would be at the same state as you." He placed his hand on Beast Boy's shoulder. "Trust me, I'm willing to help you out with this."

Beast Boy let a small smile come on his face. "Thanks buddy."

"You're welcome." Robin removed his hand from the changeling's shoulder. "And to start, let me ask you this. You're already thinking that maybe what you're feeling for Raven is different in some way from what you felt for Terra, and you've already managed to identify what you used to feel for Terra as a mere schoolyard crush. That being said, do you think you can attempt to describe in more detail what you feel for Raven?"

Beast Boy thought to himself, being extra careful and taking his time. "Um . . . can I get back to you on that? I've never been asked to do a task like that before, and I'm still working on sorting it all out in my head."

Robin nodded his head. "That's perfectly fine Beast Boy. Just remember, once you do have a proper answer for that question, just let me know, and I'll be perfectly happy to tell you if what you feel for Raven sounds more similar to how I used to feel for Batgirl, or how I still currently feel now for Starfire."

"Ok then." Then Beast Boy's eyes widened. "Wait a minute . . . what's this about Batgirl?"

"That's a story for a later date," said Robin. He pointed at Beast Boy, a stern glare on his face. "And one that I'd _very_ much prefer that Starfire hear coming out of my own mouth thank you very much."

Beast Boy gulped. "Understood.

"Good."

"Well even that aside," said Beast Boy. "In the event that what I've currently got going on with Raven turns out to be a Starfire situation . . . I mean, how? That shouldn't be possible!"

"Beast Boy," said Robin. "We deal with the impossible all the time. Really, in a universe like this, there isn't really such thing as impossible."

Beast Boy sighed. "Fair point, but still, we're so different . . ."

"Opposites attract."

Beast Boy narrowed his eyes. "Cliché much?"

"It's the truth Beast Boy," Robin responded. "And not just in books and movies and other forms of media. There are actual examples of opposites attract couples in real life, and successful ones to at that."

"Name three," said Beast Boy.

"That's easy," Robin responded instantly. He pointed at himself. "For starters, there's me and Star. As I'm sure you and the other Titans are all quite aware, Starfire is almost always so very bright, outgoing, trusting, idealistic, and happy go lucky; whereas I, on the other hand, am more guarded, brooding, obsessive, careful, and down to earth. Also, as careful as I tend to be, I tend to leap into situations before I look and work to find a way to survive mid-fall, whereas Starfire, rather ironically considering she can actually fly, tends to be more likely to look before she leaps." He pointed towards the sun. "To put it simply, she's the bright and joyous sun to my dark and grim moon."

Beast Boy looked over at the sun, and then back at Robin. He nodded his head, an impressed look on his face at the quite valid point Robin had just brought up.

Robin mentally cheered in triumph, a small smile now on his face. "Second example," the Boy Wonder continued. "Kid Flash and Jinx. Jinx, as we know quite well, is quite down to Earth, takes things seriously, thinks things through, has a calm demeanor, and has extra strong drive. Kid Flash, on the other hand, while admittedly capable of being quite smart, is also very rash, impulsive, hyperactive, somewhat short in attention span, and can also be a bit of a wiseass." Beast Boy chuckled upon hearing that last bit, and Robin pointed at him once again, but this time with a small silent snigger on his face ruining his attempt at looking stern. "But don't tell him I called him that."

"Don't worry dude," said Beast Boy, still struggling to avoid bursting out laughing. "Your secret's safe with me."

Robin nodded. "And for my final example I can immediately provide; we have Aqualad and Terra."

Beast Boy snapped back to serious mode, full attention now on Robin and ready to hear what the Boy Wonder had to say. "Go on."

"Well here's the thing with them," Robin explained. "Terra, while admittedly a bit like you on some levels, also tends to be at times rather guarded, rigid, and firm like a mountain. Aqualad on the other hand, while a little more serious and down to earth like me, is also a bit more flexible and allows himself to flow and adapt, much like a stream of water."

Beast Boy thought to himself, and then nodded. "Ok you win that round," said the changeling. "But even so, in your case, plus theirs, the differences complement each other."

"So could yours and Raven's if given the chance."

"But you guys also have important stuff in common! Raven and I are nothing alike!"

"I have full view of your coloring, a geomancer, a dragon, a werewolf-like monster, and a demonic side, that say otherwise."

Beast Boy sighed. "Ok yeah, weak argument on my end. But still, in the event that I actually do love her, and by some miracle she feels the same, we're still teammates! And aren't superheroes like us supposed to not be allowed to have romantic relationships between teammates?"

"That would be true," said Robin, "if we were having this conversation at any time before Tokyo." He raised his finger to emphasize his upcoming next point. "But after what's happened in Tokyo and the months that have followed since, times have changed. And even if I were to try to claim to believe in that rule, it would be quite counterproductive. I mean come on, it would be awfully hypocritical of me now to try to stand for and enforce that rule amongst the team considering both how I've allowed Jinx and Kid Flash, Aqualad and Terra, and now apparently quite a few other couples that I wasn't even aware of flourish and openly exist amongst the team, and how I myself am now dating Star."

The Boy Wonder folded his arms across his chest, a happy grin on his face. "And besides, regardless of what Batman says about that rule or any similar ones regarding romance in general, he's never really been able to properly enforce that rule amongst any superhero group outside the Bat Family. But outside that, he doesn't really have the authority or power to really get those rules to work. Just look at the Justice League. He's both one of the founders, and virtually one of the closest things they have to an overall leader, and there are still members of that group who have romantic designs on someone. Everyone in the hero community knows that Superman and Lois Lane have a thing going on. Wonder Woman's reportedly managed to meet up with a man who's basically a carbon copy of her old World War II buddy Steve Trevor all the way down to being named after that same ancestor of his, and used to have a thing for Batman."

"Say what now?" asked Beast Boy.

"The Flash is married to Iris West," Robin continued. "And they had already tied the knot before the league was formed. Hal Jordan is currently still pining over Carol Ferris and trying everything he can to find a way to break through to her in spite of her currently actively working as a Star Sapphire. John Stewart is currently still going strong with Vixen. Hawkwoman and Hawkman were already married before the league was formed. Aquaman, as king of Atlantis, is married to Queen Mera and they have a son. Metamorpho was able to successfully marry Sapphire Stagg before he joined the league. Black Canary and Green Arrow have a thing going on, as do Huntress and Question. Zatanna is currently rumored to have a thing going on with John Constantine. Doctor Fate is married to Inza. Really, I could list so many other examples right now. And even without all them, Batman's hardly any better an example of sticking with those rules."

Beast Boy raised his eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"Really." Robin lifted his hand to forestall further comment from Beast Boy. "But that's not the point right now. Look Beast Boy, the point is, if you do turn out to be in love with Raven, and she reciprocates, then there's really nothing to stop you." He placed his hand on the changeling's shoulder. "And I'm most certainly not gonna stand in your way. And take from this what you wish, but all I'm saying now is to just give it a chance. Really go and explore the possibility. For all we know, you and Raven could very well be just right for each other. I mean, all of Heaven certainly thinks so, so why shouldn't we?"

Beast Boy nervously chuckled. "Fair enough."

"And in any event, however this whole matter unfolds and turns out, we'll be there for you."

Beast Boy thought to himself, and then nodded. "I guess it's worth taking a shot." He hung his head, and then nodded it up and down. He looked back up at Robin. "And I guess it looks like my upcoming planned hopeful zoo trip between just me and Raven this Valentine's Day could prove to be an even bigger opportunity then I thought."

Robin's eyes widened. "That early?"

"No time like the present," Beast Boy responded. He then hung his head once more. "Though admittedly, I think I might need more than a little assistance in figuring out how to get things started properly. Like we've both made clear, I've got very little experience. Plus, I know for a fact that what I did for Terra won't work on Raven, and since there's so much about Raven that I may yet not know, I'd very much prefer I don't make myself look presumptuous or anything. . ."

"Have no fear Beast Boy." Robin placed his hand on Beast Boy's shoulder, a small smile on his face. "I know just the thing to get the ball rolling between you two."

The relative silence in the air was abruptly shattered at the sound of what appeared to be jet engines. The two boys looked out the windows just in time to see what appeared to be two flying vehicles shaped exactly like the T-ship (only bigger), one of them silvery gray and the other a dark forest green, heading towards the island on the horizon.

"And that would be Titans North and South," said Robin. He looked back at Beast Boy. "When we get the chance, we'll talk this out further later today so that you can get a head start on getting everything ready for when Valentine's Day arrives the day after. But for now, it's best we get back outside, greet the new guests, and continue socializing with everyone."

Beast Boy nodded his head. "Understood."

"Good." Robin started walking towards the main doors to the common room. "Let's go."

The two teen boys exited the common room and made their way back to rejoin their friends and teammates outside the tower. But even as they focused on the current task at hand, both still had a portion of their minds on what they'd earlier been talking about. Robin was carefully going over every detail of the plan he'd now formed in his mind to help Beast Boy get things started and off to a smooth start between him and Raven. Beast Boy, meanwhile, was eagerly wondering just what Robin was now planning as well as looking forward to the potential good outcomes that were possibly in the future for him if said plan worked.

 **And just like that, another chapter complete! I really do hope you all enjoyed this chapter to! I had quite a lot of fun writing it! And I especially hope you leave plenty of feedback (and once again, I would especially appreciate it if I receive at least 1 review for this chapter; the chances of the next chapter being uploaded upon completion heavily depend on that). And on another note, it's time for me to get a few other things out of the way in regard to this chapter.**

 **A: I especially hope you enjoyed all the interactions between the main branch (aka. Titans West) and the Titans East and Central branches. I really hope you find the interaction between Herald and Cyborg amusing at the very least, and I certainly did also enjoy writing the interactions between Beast Boy, Robin, and the other three Titan Boys who weren't hanging around Cyborg. However, I also quite enjoyed writing the interactions between the girl Titans as well. And to be honest, I actually believe it would be quite plausible for their dynamic to work the way I'm having it work. I mean think about it, once they're all on good terms, I totally believe that Raven and Starfire would actually be quite good friends with Jinx and Terra, and that Jinx and Terra would also be quite strong and reliable gal pals with each other as well.**

 **B: I also hope you got some level of enjoyment in seeing the talks/debates/arguments about the romantic matters, and I apologize if I made it seem repetitive in that I had such talks happen twice in the same chapter. But this is how I felt it would work out best for this chapter (and this point in the story). And I'm sure you can quite agree with me (and the characters) on virtually all of those points. And let's face it, from a certain point of view, BBRae, Flinx, and the individual characters that make up those two pairings actually aren't really all that different. And on a similar note, I also hope you enjoyed the small references I made to Young Justice in the descriptions given about Kid Flash during the girls' conversation. And speaking of which, I might as well also mention that the thing about Raven enjoying MLP: Friendship is Magic as a guilty pleasure is a nod to how her TTG counterpart is a HUGE fangirl of that universe's MLP:FiM expy, Pretty, Pretty Pegasus.**

 **C: You may have noticed all that stuff about the Justice League and their own romantic matters? I might as well mention right now, that for the sake of my Fanfiction continuation of Teen Titans, their animated canon (which I shall be referring to for the sake of this project as the DCTTAU (DC Teen Titans Animated Universe)) will have multiple elements in common with the DCAU, but with a few minor differences and a few major differences added in (here's to hoping you find enjoyment and nostalgia in those details). And on another note, at some point in the future, I also have a little project on the side in writing up a bullet point** **formatted history of the DCTTAU that I may yet alter in format for the sake of posting on this website at a later date.**

 **Well, with all that out of the way, once again, I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter and leave plenty of reviews/feedback! ^_^**

 **Coming up Next: The very next day, and the final day before this year's Valentine's Day, Raven wakes up in the morning in time to find an unexpected gift at her bedroom door labeled to be from a 'Secret Admirer'. While quite a pleasant surprise for the half demon teen sorceress, it also leaves her the unusual mystery of just who is this 'secret admirer'. But at the same time this somewhat quite enjoyable mystery is going on amongst the Titans, a shadowy figure is present and at work within Jump City; and he soon manages to convince two other not quite as menacing, but still worth looking out for, citizens of Jump into getting involved in a sinister new attempt at the same plot that was derailed the previous year over the course of 'Geo-Force'. Sound exciting? I certainly hope so!**


	8. A Secret Admirer

**Hey everybody! BOY I am so sorry you had to wait so long this time! But hopefully, this chapter will more than make up for how long you had to wait for it to come out! In this long awaited chapter, with Valentine's Day unfolding the very next day, Raven finds herself quite pleasantly surprised when she discovers an unexpected gift (and one very clearly designed for a romantic overture at that) at her door, and that it is apparently from 'her secret admirer'. And before long, she soon finds herself pleasantly surprised, touched, and actually quite curious about who the secret admirer is and if perhaps she should consider pursuing a chance at a relationship with him if she's lucky. However, at the exact same time that this joyous little mystery is unfolding, an unpleasant figure from the previous summer is hard at work . . . and this time, he's both set up shop right in Jump City and now gotten to work on setting things up for potentially recruiting two local Titan foes who, while hardly doomsday material, could yet prove worth keeping an eye out for. Sound exciting? I certainly hope so! And that being said, here's to also hoping that you read, review, and enjoy!**

 **A/N: But first, I once again remind you that I do not own Teen Titans, anything else DC-based, or anything else mentioned in here that likewise belongs to a higher legal power. And with that out of the way, onward with the fic!**

 **Chapter 7:**

 **A Secret Admirer**

Raven woke up, yawning slightly as she did so. She opened her eyes, and silently gazed around her and took in the familiar sight of her room and everything inside it. Then she took a look at the small gothic themed calendar on one of the walls, and mentally sighed. It was now February 13, 2018. Valentine's Day was the very next day.

She turned her head in the direction of the door, and hung her head. She wouldn't lie. She had indeed enjoyed spending time with all her friends and fellow team mates among the Titans the previous day. And yes, she would indeed keep her promise to at least consider the possibility of what she had discussed with Starfire, Jinx, Terra, and Bumblebee the same day. But even so, that one little part of her was still somewhat displeased and saddened that she was even now seeming to be highly likely to once again be on her own as a single lady for Valentine's Day this year.

With a sigh, she got herself out of bed and started walking slowly towards the door to her room. "In any event," she thought to herself, "at least Beast Boy and I can still go to the zoo together as friends." She came to a stop about a footstep or two away from the range at which the door would start opening automatically, sighing once more. "Life used to be so much simpler and less gloomy than this," she thought to herself. She hung her head, shaking it side to side in the process. "I miss those days," she whispered to herself. She lifted her head. "Well," she said to herself out loud. "Here goes nothing." With a final sigh, she made the last few steps necessary to trigger the door into opening automatically, and she stepped her left foot forward into the hallway.

At the sound of a small crinkling noise coming from under her left foot, Raven paused, and looked down. Lying on the floor directly in front of the door to her room was a wrapped up bouquet of black orchids, and her left foot was currently positioned right on the center of the area with the floral shop wrapping coiled around it.

Raven's eyes widened at the sight of this. She had not been expecting this. "What in Azar," she thought to herself. She lifted her foot away from the flowers, leaned over, and picked them up, examining them closely. She turned around and walked further back into her room, the door sliding closed in the process. As the sorceress examined the flowers in her hand, she couldn't help but let a small smile come on her face. The flowers were actually quite beautiful, and she had to admit that whoever had gotten them must have really known her well; after all, orchids were her favorite flower. Then she noticed a small slip of paper attached to the wrapping, and she turned the bouquet around to get a good look at it. Her eyes widened once more upon catching sight of what was written on it. Upon the paper, written in old English runes, were the words 'From Your Secret Admirer'.

Barely breathing, Raven gently removed the paper strip from the bouquet, gaping intently in a mixture of shock and happiness. "Wow," she thought to herself. A small smile formed on her face, her look of shock giving away entirely to a look of her own unique brand of joy. "Someone . . . actually . . . gave me . . . flowers." She lifted her head slightly. She had to admit, she was actually feeling quite lucky right now. No one had ever done anything like this for her before period, let alone at this time of the year. The fact that this year, someone actually had done exactly that kind of a deed, made her feel quite happy. And for once, both her human and demon sides seemed to be in perfect harmony and agreement on the matter.

Then her eyes narrowed into a frown, and she looked at the slip of paper once more. "But now the question is," she thought to herself, "who _is_ this 'Secret Admirer'?"

And indeed this was quite a good question, even for Raven. Granted, considering the fact that the gift had been inside the tower, and directly in front of her bedroom door, it was logical to assume that one of the other Titans was responsible. Granted, she already knew that she could rule out every single one of the girls on the team. After all, as far as she knew, they were all straight, or in Melvin's case just too young to really be all that interested in romance. She also knew that she could rule out all of the boys on the team that already had girlfriends, as she was easily able to tell just through emotional feedback alone that they were in smooth and well-functioning relationships and not at all keen on cutting things off. And she could definitely rule out Cyborg as well due to how he was both very focused on fostering the possibility of a relationship with Sarah Simms and viewed her as more of a little sister anyway. But even with the Titans that remained in the equation, the one responsible for the gift, whoever it was, had certainly put in a lot of effort to make sure it wouldn't be too easy for her to trace the gift back.

Usually she would have been able to determine the identity through some subtle detail or other. But this time, she had no such luck. After all, as far as she knew, not a single one of them had shown any sign before of even knowing old English, let alone the ability to write words in that language. And even with that in mind, she certainly didn't recognize the handwriting the way she usually could.

"Nonetheless," she thought to herself. "It has to be one of them. Logically speaking, that's the only possibility that makes any sense . . . relatively speaking." She thought to herself some more. "Maybe I could still at least rule out a few more of the suspects," she thought to herself, and she looked at the little slip of paper once more. Before long, she was able to confidently rule out several more of the eligible suspects. Teether and Timmy were much too young to have even learned how to write, let alone develop a romantic interest in anyone; and besides, they, like Melvin, already viewed her as more of a surrogate mother figure anyway. Mas and Menos, who were around the same age as Melvin, still appeared quite precociously infatuated with Starfire, and also preferred very strongly to write in Spanish, were also easily eliminated from the equation. She could also eliminate Thunder and Lightning, as not only were they both still quite happy to remain bachelors themselves, but had also in the end opted to remain in Obsidian City back in Florida instead of accompanying their teammates to Jump City.

"Who else can I rule out?" Raven thought to herself. The answer came to her within seconds. "Well for one, Wildebeest is definitely a no." And for good reason. For starters, from what she'd seen of the mutant humanoid wildebeest, and in spite of his size, he acted very strongly like he was still an elementary school aged child. Also, considering some of his more, primal, culinary tastes, he would have been far more likely to eat the flowers rather than save them for use as a gift. And even if that weren't the case, she would _definitely_ have gotten a whiff of his almost nauseatingly strong body odor. Then Raven realized that she could also just as easily rule out Gnark. For starters, not only would he have crushed the flowers in his large hands, but he was also not all that keen on attempting to go out on the market; not to mention quite preoccupied in playing chaperone with Kole and Jericho. And no sooner had Raven reached this point when she also decided that she could also rule out Bushido. In spite of knowing how to read and speak English, he made a point to always write in Japanese, on the kind of paper that usually got used for scrolls, and with legitimate ink that you could write with while using a quill.

Raven took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "That leaves 3 suspects among the team," she whispered out loud. "Kilowatt, Speedy, and Beast Boy." And indeed, all three of those boys had equal claim to potentially being the 'secret admirer' responsible for giving her the flowers. Kilowatt had only ever been all that keen on opening up and conversing with three people among the Titans; Bushido, Cyborg, and Raven. In fact, Raven had occasionally even taken part in giving him a form of therapy in engaging in relatively private one-on-one conversations that had allowed her to learn quite a lot about the heavily guarded, aloof, and somewhat antisocial electrokinetic. And one particularly attention worthy detail she'd learned from him was how she actually reminded him very much of an old friend that he knew from back where he'd come from. Granted, he'd just as strongly made it clear that he wished very much to keep himself available for that same girl for as long as he possibly could; assuming he'd ever so much as consider setting his eyes on anyone else. But then again, could he have perhaps decided to try to test himself with Raven as a direct result of how much she reminded him of that friend?

Then there was Speedy to consider. Granted, he was rather carefree, laid back, and egotistical at times. And he was not above flirting around every now and then, though not nearly as often as Kid Flash was notorious for. But underneath all that, he was also quite guarded, raw, and capable of being a very nice guy at the same time. Also, he had proven himself capable of reading, writing, and even speaking in Vietnamese; so it probably wasn't too big a stretch to consider that he'd perhaps also managed to learn other languages, including old English. Finally, from what she'd learned from Beast Boy and heard confirmed by the archer himself over the course of the previous day, he did have 'plans' for this Valentine's Day. Was it really that unreasonable then, perhaps, to consider the possibility that these plans involved her in some capacity?

And then there was Beast Boy. Truth be told, just as she'd promised to her gal pals the previous day, she'd been giving their comments about Beast Boy quite a bit of thought. Admittedly, she still wasn't entirely certain whether or not she was completely willing to attempt starting up a relationship or anything with him just yet; and the fact that she didn't recall detecting any signs in his emotional output of him having that kind of feeling for her. But then again, with the current mass beacon's worth of emotional output he was giving off, she was currently having far more difficulty than usual in pinpointing individual emotions. And now that she thought about it, who knew what Beast Boy had managed to talk about with everybody else yesterday? Or what he and Robin had been discussing about when they'd gone into the tower on their own before the arrival of Titans North and South? For all she knew, Beast Boy could have just as easily undergone a similar experience with the guys that she'd undergone with the girls and just been the first of the two to take the initiative and make the first step. Granted, she would never have expected him to know old English, but she'd been wrong about his level of intellect before. And even so, he could have just as easily have had help.

Raven thought on the matter a couple minutes more. Then she let a small smile come on her face, and she gently placed the flowers down on the chest of drawers where a large mirror was situated. "Well I guess I'll just have to find out the hard way." She turned away from the flowers and slowly walked back to the door to her room, this time completely exiting when she reached the door.

. . . . .

Meanwhile, in the common room, the other four founders were likewise busy with their own little tasks. Robin was currently sitting at the kitchen island with his usual newspaper and coffee present. Starfire was leaning against the kitchen counter opposite the kitchen island, tapping her foot up and down as she patiently waited for what she currently had cooking in the oven to finish. Cyborg was on the sofa watching the news on TV, which was currently showing footage of Superman doing battle with what appeared to be a robotic dragon capable of firing lightning bolt-like bursts of red light. Beast Boy, meanwhile, was sitting at a chair nearby one of the supercomputers, and in the midst of, of all activities, reading a book.

The book in question, as it turned out, was an advice book on modern courtship and dating protocol. Under any other circumstances, the changeling would have been more than happy to just wing it out and take his chances and hope for his natural charisma to do the rest. But now, with the second chance in his life of actually having a serious romantic relationship that would actually go anywhere and last more than a brief meeting and cursory conversation now potentially around the corner, plus the fact that he knew that he'd really need to make sure he did things right considering the nature of who he was now considering to take a chance on, he had a feeling that it would be very wise for him to study up. "She may be a world away from most other girls," he thought to himself, "but surely the advice in this book, or at least some bits of it, can still apply to her in some way or other."

Robin discreetly kept an eye on the changeling, and found himself mentally smiling at how seriously Beast Boy was taking the matter at hand. "Considering to how immature I'm used to seeing him act, I sometimes forget how much of a serious romantic he can be when he puts his mind to it," the Boy Wonder thought to himself. "And hopefully that book will be somewhat helpful," he then thought with a brief narrowing of his eyes. "Because if he screws up with Raven, he'll have to answer to me; and that's assuming he's in any state to do such a thing once Cyborg's done with him." And Robin very much intended to make good on this promise, for like Cyborg, he viewed Raven as the sister figure he never had. And as willing as he was to continue helping Beast Boy set things up with her, he was not about to let him get away with any costly screw ups. Raven had already suffered enough, and the last thing she needed was to have her heart romantically broken a second time, and by a person that she'd actually already viewed as a close friend no less.

The main doors to the common room opened, and Robin discreetly directed his full attention back to his newspaper. Beast Boy also heard the noise, and this sound, plus the distinctive scent of lavender and jasmine, was enough to cause the changeling to surreptitiously hide the book he'd been reading and replace it with his copy of the complete Smithsonian Encyclopedia of Animals. Raven had arrived.

Raven calmly directed her gaze around the room, taking note of every detail she could find. With a nod, she proceeded over to the kitchen and silently got to work on preparing her usual morning dosage of herbal tea.

Starfire couldn't help but smile at the sight of the sorceress in the kitchen. "Good morning friend!"

Raven nodded, and gave the Tamaranean a small wave of greeting, one eye still focused on her tea.

Robin let a small smile come on his face, and without even turning his head away from the paper, he said, "Good to see you've finally joined us Raven. We were starting to wonder what was taking you so long." In truth, he had a pretty good idea exactly what had taken Raven so long, but he wasn't about to admit to that in front of Raven just yet.

"Fear no more," said Raven without even turning her head "I'm here now." She finished pouring her tea, and then looked around the common room once more. "Where's everyone else?"

"They'll be joining us later."

Cyborg turned his head away from the TV, which had now started giving news coverage of the Flash being interviewed after foiling yet another scheme by Mirror Master. "We were lucky we had enough room the last time we had this many Titans present at the same tower at the same time. So we made sure to set things up appropriately so that we wouldn't be at risk of overcrowding each other when it was time for bed."

The bionic teen pointed out the window in the direction of where the distinctive T-Ships of Titans North and South were still parked. "Considering how many individual members there are in North and South, they had their ships designed so that they could use them as makeshift headquarters if the situation demanded; so they're currently still on their ships." He pointed in the direction of the city proper. "Terra managed to pull a few strings that would allow her and Titans East to have access to a larger apartment room suite at where she used to live before rejoining us last year just for them. And as far as I know, they're still at that apartment." He pointed down towards the floor. "As for Titans Central, they're still down in the basement."

"Hmm," said Raven. "I see."

"Pity you weren't here with us a couple minutes ago," Beast Boy piped up. He pointed over at the TV. "You missed a real kickass fight between the big blue boy scout and some red lightning spewing robo-dragon."

Robin rolled his eyes. "You certainly gotta give Lex Luthor points for persistence."

"What makes you think it was Lex Luthor?" Cyborg asked. "Was there a Lexcorp logo somewhere that I missed?"

"Cyborg, use your head," said Robin. "From the way Superman reacted whenever he actually managed to get hit by those beams, that robot was clearly designed to breath red sunlight radiation. That factor, combined with the technology likely needed to design it and how much money it probably cost, leaves only 4 villains commonly associated with the man of steel's rogues' gallery as reasonable suspects. And out of those 4, considering the fact that Ultra Humanite is currently still at Stryker's Island, Brainiac was neutralized six years ago, and Luminus practically vanished off the face of the Earth immediately after his final big plot two years before the founding of the Titans, Lex Luthor's the only viable option."

Cyborg thought to himself, considered the entirety of what Robin had said, and then nodded his head. "Fair point."

Raven looked over at Beast Boy, her eyebrow rising as she noticed what Beast Boy had in his hands. "Didn't take you to be the type who liked to read."

"Oh this?" The changeling gestured at the book in his hands. "I just thought it would be a useful way to pass the time."

"Uh huh," said Raven. She turned her head to face Robin, and then walked on over to the Boy Wonder. "If there's anyone who can give me an idea on what to do here in my current situation," she thought to herself, "it's him."

She took a seat to Robin's left, sipped her tea, and then made a discreet hissing noise to attract his attention. Robin turned his head. "Something you want to talk about?"

Raven nodded. "It would appear that I may have a secret admirer."

Robin showed no visible sign of reaction on his face, though he was mentally cheering in victory. "Yes, it's working," he thought to himself. Beast Boy also managed to overhear the conversation from his position, and he let a small smile come on his face.

"Do explain," said Robin.

Raven discreetly looked around. "This morning," she whispered. "I noticed that someone left me a bouquet of black orchids at my bedroom door last night; and whoever it was, really put up a good effort at making sure it wouldn't be too easy for me to determine who it was."

"Oh really?" asked Robin. "Wow, that's some serious skill." He made a show of positioning his head as if looking around, and then looked back at Raven. "Want me to try to figure it out?" Of course, Robin knew perfectly well who was responsible, particularly since he'd been instrumental in helping the guilty party in the first place the previous night and day. But of course, he needed to keep up appearances right now, and he was really just asking out of a sense of formality anyway.

Raven shook her head side to side. "That won't be necessary. I've already managed to mentally reduce the suspect list down to three potential suitors. But still, I wouldn't mind asking you for a bit of advice . . . if you don't mind."

Beast Boy continued to discreetly listen in, anxious to figure out how things would possibly go from here. "Go on ahead," said Robin. "I'm all ears."

Raven took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "How do you think I should proceed?"

Robin raised his eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"This secret admirer," Raven clarified. "How should I respond to this overture?"

"Well I don't think it would be too bad if you don't respond very quickly, if at all, to just this first little overture. Knowing you, and considering how stuff like this naturally works, I'd say it would be perfectly reasonable to wait until maybe at least the 2nd, or maybe even 3rd, such overture before you absolutely should give a response."

Raven thought to herself. "Well I guess that works. But what about when that time comes? What should I do then?"

Robin sighed. "Honestly Raven, I'm not entirely certain myself. When it comes to my love life, I didn't undergo any situations like the one you're currently experiencing. And I doubt that the same process I did in getting together with Star will necessarily work, let alone be appropriate, for your current situation."

Raven sighed. "I guess you're right, but still. . ."

Robin placed his hand on Raven's shoulder in a gesture of brotherly care. "Look Raven," said the Boy Wonder. "I may not be an expert, but the best I can do is say that, whoever this secret admirer is, you'd best at least give him a chance. At the very least, he deserves that much, or at least a response that will keep him willing to stay patient if you still need time to wait and think things over."

Raven thought to herself, and then sighed once more. "Well I guess that's true," she admitted. "But even so. . ."

"Raven," said Robin. "I understand that you're still at some level uncertain about whether or not it's worth making another effort at finding love after what happened with Malchior. But that was three years ago. It's high time you let go of that scaly screw up and look ahead to the future and come out of your shell again to make another attempt. If you really want to be truly happy in life, you can't always play it safe. Sometimes you have to put yourself at risk for pain in order to gain what happiness you truly want. And not to mention, ever since our experiences with your father two years ago, your powers haven't been anywhere near as volatile and in risky business with your emotions as they used to be. I think it will be perfectly safe for you to try to broaden your emotional horizons and make an honest direct second attempt at pursuing a chance at love."

"If you say so," said Raven.

"That's the spirit." Robin withdrew his hand from the teen sorceress's shoulder. "And like I said, don't feel like you have to rush. Feel free to take your time and wait it out if necessary. And if this works for the best, then I'm sure that whoever this guy is, will be the best you could ever ask for."

Beast Boy couldn't help but let a wide grin come across his face upon hearing this. "Why thank you Robin," he thought to himself. "I'll certainly make sure of that." He discreetly directed his gaze towards the Boy Wonder and the teen sorceress. "As long as me and Robin's little plan continues to work as well as it currently is, I could yet put an end to my bachelor status today just in time for Valentine's Day, and with an actually pretty good girl who's both on my team and actually a pretty swell friend of mine to."

"Yes, that's right," the mental voice of the Beast snarled exuberantly. "Claim what is yours. Tonight you shall claim your mate!"

Beast Boy didn't even bother to respond to the Beast's statement. At that point, he was too excited and full of hope to care. For once, things were actually working out pretty well for him. And he sure wasn't about to let anything blacken his mood, not even the Beast.

Meanwhile, Cyborg couldn't help but notice both the conversing Robin and Raven, and Beast Boy discreetly listening in. Upon seeing all this, the bionic teen couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, and then start thinking to himself. "I wonder," he thought to himself. "Just what _is_ going on right now between those three?" Starfire, on the other hand, didn't seem at all aware of those two details, or even the basic area around her as she continued patiently waiting for whatever she was cooking to finish its time in the oven.

The oven timer went off, and Starfire hurried over to check it. She opened it up, and steam popped out before she managed to get a good look at the interior. "Yes," she practically squealed as she slipped on oven mitts and drew out what she'd been cooking. She lifted the metal tray up to her face, and took a deep whiff, exhaling in content. "Ah," she said, "I cannot wait to taste this."

The other Titans managed to catch the scent on their own noses, and they reacted in a much less pleased manner. Beast Boy in particular, thanks to his significantly stronger sense of smell, actually did a rapid gulp, his face turning a considerably darker shade of green than normal, and then turned his head before unleashing an almost strangled sounding gasp that sounded erroneously as if he were vomiting.

Starfire, comically oblivious to her friends' reactions to the smell, started walking over towards the kitchen island, the cooking tray still in her gloved hands. "Come friends; please do have a taste of this remarkable dish I've cooked in honor of tomorrow's festivities!"

The dish in question hardly looked any more remarkable than it smelled. At first glance, and without quite a large number of bizarre elements, it looked like a batch of ordinary lasagna. However, the fact that it was a deep purple, had ugly yellow-green spike encrusted tentacle-like objects sticking out of it, and the aforementioned smell left it firmly established that this was yet another one of Starfire's bizarre alien delicacies.

Robin raised his masked eyebrows at the sight of the dish, then directed his gaze towards his girlfriend. "Starfire?" he asked. "What is that?"

Starfire giggled. "It is a very delightful dish my friends," the Tamaranean responded. She placed the tray down on top of the kitchen island. "It is a batch of the baked Ganeshan Noodle Fish. It is a very rare delicacy." She extended her arms towards her friends, the tray still grasped in her gloved hands. "Please; do try it."

The other Titans looked at each other nervously, uncertain on what to do. Then, as one, Robin, Beast Boy, and Raven turned their heads to look at Cyborg, a clear 'your turn' look on their faces. When Cyborg finally noticed this, he mentally sighed, steeled himself up, and stepped forward to get the whole unpleasant business over with. As Robin, Beast Boy, and Raven half cautiously and half eagerly watched, Cyborg tentatively took a bite from Starfire's cooked up dish.

For what seemed like an eternity, all four of Cyborg's much younger fellow founders watched intently for how he would react. Starfire still had a wide smile on her face, clearly still with high hopes about how her friend would react to her latest culinary effort. The other three Titans, meanwhile, had quite different thoughts on their minds.

"Vomit, vomit, vomit, vomit, vomit," Beast Boy thought to himself.

"Please be mature, please be mature, please be mature," Raven thought to herself.

"Swallow, swallow, swallow, swallow," Robin thought to himself.

Cyborg managed to swallow about half of the portion he'd placed into his mouth, and a very queer expression came on his face.

"It's . . . interesting."

Starfire's smile widened, seemingly not noticing at all how Cyborg's face looked. "Do elaborate friend."

Cyborg mentally grimaced. "Heaven help me," he thought to himself. With a mental deep breath and exhalation, he managed to force down the other half of the portion he'd placed in his mouth, completely swallowed it, and then continued. "It's . . . tough . . . gamy . . ."

"I presume that is a good thing?"

"Oh yeah," said Cyborg . . . a little too quickly in Robin, Beast Boy, and Raven's opinion, but Starfire didn't seem to notice that little detail.

Giggling with pleasure, Starfire did a small victory dance with the tray still in her hands. When she came to a stop at her position that allowed her to directly face Cyborg once more, she eagerly asked, "Anything else you wish to say?"

At that moment, Cyborg suddenly felt a very uncomfortable burning sensation in his throat, mouth, and stomach. "It's . . . very . . . hot."

"Well of course it is," said Starfire nonchalantly. She lifted up her finger as if to emphasize a point. "I specifically made sure that I had plenty of oil from the Agnashkian Volcano Flower available to add a desirably spicy taste to it."

Cyborg's heart plummeted, and his face contorted in a clear mixture of agony and despair. And not only that, but Robin, Beast Boy, and Raven could almost swear that not only did his entire body turn a very unnaturally red color, but steam and smoke seemed to start coming out of his ears. All of a sudden, Cyborg managed to say, "Excuse me," and then he ran out of the common room. Literally seconds after Cyborg burst out into the hallway, flames spouted from his ears and his mouth, and he let out an emasculatingly high pitched shriek as he stampeded off to find a bathroom or some similar source of water to quench the agonizing burning sensation inside him.

As Starfire gaped in stunned shock at what had just happened, the other three Titans just stared in the same direction with a very different look on their faces. For all of ten seconds, Beast Boy and Robin were able to keep a straight face; and then they both burst out laughing. Even Raven found a treacherous half smirk come on her face, genuinely amused at what had just happened. Starfire managed to turn her head to face her boyfriend and his two friends, an almost scandalized look of shock on her face. "Friends!" she yelled. "How can you possibly find such amusement in friend Cyborg's pain?"

"Because it's so bizarre what just happened!" Beast Boy managed to bark out, almost delirious now.

"What he said," said Robin, now beating his stomach with his right fist in an effort to get himself to stop laughing.

Raven sighed, and rolled her eyes. "Oh how I'll miss it if we ever have an entire day without some hilarious disaster or bizarre episode occurring as part of the daily routine right here in our tower," she thought to herself. In fact, there were actually quite a lot of things she'd miss if she ever lost them, now that she thought about it. But now, after her little talk with Robin and having discovered the flowers she'd been gifted with in the first place, she could readily admit that in the event that she actually did manage to get a boyfriend out of all this, and one that actually turned out to be a decent guy who genuinely loved her for who she was, she would not miss the virtual eternity of loneliness she'd felt herself immersed in for so long.

. . . . .

Donald Anderson was not in a good mood. Not at all. In fact, he was in such a black mood right now, that he actually now had to admit that it was a miracle he hadn't gotten into an accident or worse considering how his parents and personal experience had made it quite clear that it was a very bad idea to drive when angry. But sadly, he had no other choice right now. Just this morning, he'd been fired from yet another part time job, and had been unceremoniously kicked off the property and left with no other option but to go right back home.

Eventually, and by sheer luck in his mind, he managed to safely make it back home to the small trailer parked in the forest that he called home. He got out of his truck and morosely walked on over to the trailer, fuming and stewing away in his funk. "Days like these make me so want to put that stupid armor back on again," he growled to himself. He came to a stop at the top of the small set of stairs leading up to the door to his trailer, and he sighed. "First the Titans keep busting me down, then I get virtually screwed over even worse during my brief stint working for that dumb Brotherhood of Incompetence, and now absolutely no one's willing to give me a chance anymore." The 20-year old young man hung his head, sighed once more, and brushed his hand across his short dark hair. "Boy God must hate me." He opened the door, lifted his head, and entered the trailer.

He had just closed the door and started locking it when he heard a voice behind him say, "He probably does, but that doesn't mean that his 2nd born son shares the same opinion."

Donald rapidly turned around, key still in his hand, and a stunned look of shock on his face at the unexpected sound. As it turned out, in the segment of the trailer's interior that served as a combined living room and family room, sitting lazily upon the center of the small sofa within it, was an ominous looking figure dressed in a black cloak. The figure was now remaining seated, gazing seemingly blankly yet at the same time intently at the trailer's natural occupant.

Donald remained where he was, gaping in stunned speechlessness at the unexpected guest in his trailer. However, even while still stunned, Donald was able to carefully look the visitor over. He had to admit, with the black cloak the guest was wearing, there was very little else he could make a note of to identify the figure. The bottom of the cloak reached all the way to the figure's feet, obscuring practically every part of his body. The sleeves of the cloak were so long that they completely covered his hands. And with the hood raised, and the apparent absolute darkness within the interior of it while in this position, Donald couldn't even see the figure's face, save two ominous looking and seemingly pupilless red eyes. These same eyes narrowed. "I trust you won't be keeping your guest waiting?"

Donald snapped out of his trance, and he pointed his finger at the cloaked figure in an almost accusatory fashion. "Who are you?!" he screamed. "What are you doing in my house?! How did you even get in here?!"

"Patience."

The figure lifted up his right arm as if attempting to make a 'calm down' gesture, and Donald managed to notice several holes on the area where the figure's right hand was resting, seemingly indicating that multiple sharp objects had been poking into that area of the sofa while his hand was resting there. "One question at a time Donald, I will explain it all to you in time. And besides, I haven't come here to hurt you anyway if that's what you were worried about."

Donald took two steps backwards. "How did you know my name?"

"Well for starters, you've built up quite a reputation Donald." The eyes narrowed some more. "Or should I say Adonis?"

The figure pressed a button on a device lying next to him that looked like a remote control. A large footlocker lying on the floor to the left of the sofa and under a nearby window opened up, and a hydraulic platform lifted up and revealed a large suit of what looked like some sort of robotic armor lying across it. Donald's eyes widened at the sight of this. "He knows about my armor," he thought to himself worriedly.

"And even if you hadn't yet managed to develop as strong of a reputation as you've currently gotten yourself, it still wouldn't be that hard for me to know about you; and you can thank my boss for that." The cloaked figure got up from the couch and rose to full height. "Believe me, he knows virtually everything there is to know, especially when it comes to the world's villains and sinners."

Adonis's dark eyes narrowed, and he tensed up into a somewhat battle-ready posture. "Well whoever this bigshot boss of yours is, he ain't gonna have anything to do with me! Not if I have anything to say about it!"

"It doesn't really matter whether you have anything to say about it or not," said the figure. He folded his sleeved arms across his chest. "He already has plenty to do with you, and in fact with virtually everyone in this world, including those who don't know it or even believe in it." He pointed his left arm at the young man before him. "And trust me, if he'd wanted you to come to him this early in your life, you'd have already come to him."

Donald remained where he was, his eyes still narrowed. "Yeah? Well who are you working for then huh? The Brotherhood?"

The figure chuckled, and waved his left hand in a dismissive gesture. "That old group of fogies? Please, don't make me laugh. Their time came to a close the minute the Cold War ended, and may have very well been that way even long before then. The only heroes they still show an even remote sign of competence against anymore is the Doom Patrol, their oldest enemies; and even then only because of how much that team's refused to grow up and evolve with the times. And sure, they may have managed to almost succeed in destroying the entirety of the Teen Titans before they could even truly reach their full potential, but only because they were able to catch them unawares and overwhelm them with sheer numbers and the element of surprise. But as soon as the very team they were so confident in their victory over managed to completely join up together and fight back as one, they were so hopelessly hardened and set in their ways that they were just as hopelessly outmatched against the more than willing to adapt and evolve Titans as the Doom Patrol still remains to them. Heck, the only reason why you and all the other villains of the Titans' rogues' gallery that were frozen managed to get out was because the Doom Patrol's leader was dumb and bored enough with the victory to release the Brotherhood from its freezing and all the other villains that they recruited last year had the sense to escape while the Patrol was busy doing battle with the original members of the Brotherhood. And that being said, to make an already long story just short enough to bear, if I'd been among the villains foolish enough to join forces with them, you'd have seen me there with them."

Adonis thought to himself. "Well ok, I guess you have a point there," he admitted. "And in that case, I ask again, who _are_ you working for? Legion of Doom?"

"Not a bad guess," the figure admitted. "But no. I'll give you a hint though, the master I serve does allow them to be unwittingly provided with a . . . spiritual if you will . . . backing."

Adonis grunted. "I appreciate the hint, but perhaps you could give me something better? Like, say, his name?"

"Sorry, but that's need to know." The cloaked figure walked up to Adonis and pressed the tip of his left sleeve against the boy's chest. The young man tensed up involuntarily at the contact, particularly at the uncomfortable feeling of what felt like a small sharp needle-point blade pressing against his chest. "And right now, all you need to know is something currently far more appropriate and worthy of your concerns."

For a moment, Adonis remained wary and uncomfortable. Then his eyes narrowed, and he directed his gaze at the red eyes peeking out from under the hood of his unexpected guest. "Oh really?" he almost spat. "And what would that be?"

"Quite simple really." The figure removed his hand from its contact with the boy's chest, simultaneously folding his arms back across his own chest. "My master has many plans, and right now, he is hard at work. However, he has entrusted me with setting up a particularly well thought out backup plan within a plan; a failsafe if you will; as an ambassador of sorts for him on this plane of existence."

Adonis briefly gazed at the hooded figure in confusion, then he shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Ok, not entirely certain I fully grasp the exact meaning of what you just said, but I'm listening."

"I shall simplify it for you."

The cloaked figure extended his left arm towards a nearby countertop within the kitchen area of the trailer, and with a flash of black energy, a newspaper floated off the counter and into the grasp of the likewise glowing tip of the sleeve. The figure unfurled the newspaper and allowed Adonis to get a direct look at the front page, which contained an article on yet another victory of the Justice League against the Legion of Doom. "The failsafe I mentioned? Here's the basic idea. While my master has countless loyal soldiers stationed within the exact same base of operations as him, they are currently just as stuck and reliant on his plans of higher focus as he himself is. That being said, he wants a backup army already in place on this side of reality in the event that he needs one to serve as a means of enacting his goals for him while he serves as the brain controlling and giving orders to them."

The cloaked figure threw the newspaper back onto the counter he had retrieved it from. "Admittedly, I currently have a quite low number of beings among this army in the making's active membership. But for the moment, my priority is to work to find the right people worth adding to this limited roster and boosting it up to a respectable size and strength as befits an army to be led by the one I serve." The figure placed his left hand on Adonis's right shoulder. "And as of now, with the current limited roster I already have, and having already undergone a less than impressive attempt at membership boosting last summer, I've chosen to start out small before eventually working my way up to higher profile targets. And that being said, and quite in spite of your not entirely impressive history, I have decided to give you the chance to prove yourself worthy of actively joining this cause."

Adonis directed a brief glance at the hand on his shoulder, then he looked back at the cloaked figure, and then he lifted his head and thought to himself. "Well, I can definitely say that I'm flattered." He lowered his head to look his guest in the eyes once more. "But you're not the first person I've met who's offered me membership to a team like that with promises of greatness. In fact, the very first, and so far, only, group that I've ever joined was the very one that you were quite vocally taking pot shots at not too long ago."

"Indeed so." The figure leaned his head towards Adonis. "But like I made clear, my master is not the Brotherhood." He lifted his head back to its original position and lifted his sleeved arms up towards the ceiling of the trailer. "And believe me, in the event that you successively prove yourself worthy of membership, and this army truly becomes worthy of being referred to as such, then with me at the helm and my master pulling the strings from behind the scenes, this group of mine will expose that pathetic Brotherhood of Big Bad Wannabes as the shameful clown show that they are even more than they already have, and it will be at the very least an equal in power, strength, and seriousness to the Legion of Doom." The eyes then appeared to take on a form that indicated a wide grin. "Perhaps maybe even better."

The figure then extended both his arms as if making a placatory gesture. "But you don't have to if you really don't want to. I'm a respectable being. I'm willing to let my colleagues in villainy do as they wish, regardless of how competent or otherwise they are. Feel free to choose whatever you wish to do, whether it be active villainy or getting fired again and again from every other simple day job. It's your choice."

Adonis thought to himself some more, carefully considering the offer. Truth be told, he was strongly considering the idea, granted he was also quite suspicious as to truly just how this mysterious figure knew so much about him. But even so, that was hardly the point. "Well, I guess it's worth a shot. I mean, it's not like I've really got anything better to do, let alone anything to lose." He looked the cloaked figure back in the eyes. "Besides, like you said, you're starting out low. And besides, I may not have the highest S.A.T. scores, but even I know that there's plenty of other average Joe super villains out there. I fail, you'll still have plenty of options to search through."

"Your pragmatism is admirable."

"Indeed." Adonis pointed his finger at the cloaked figure. "Name the test buddy. I'm ready to start studying."

"That's the spirit." The cloaked figure folded his arms across his chest. "And as for your test, I do believe you remember Raven of the Teen Titans?"

"Sure do," Adonis responded, almost purring, and with a small smirk coming onto his face.

"How dare you think such thoughts about that scum!?" roared a savage voice inside his head. "She must die!"

"Shut up!" Adonis yelled reflexively, only for his eyes to widen as he realized how easily his shout could have been misinterpreted. He snapped his arms forward in a placatory gesture. "I am so sorry! I wasn't talking to you! I was . . ."

"Don't worry," said the cloaked figure. "I know perfectly well about your little condition. And that being said, I know of a way that you could further benefit from my service." He pointed his left arm back at Adonis. "The robot among the Titans may have managed to somewhat cure you when you first developed it 3 years ago and made you at much lower risk of abruptly changing and allowed it to be less volatile in its ability to take charge. But it is still there, and as much as you were able to keep it repressed over the last few years that have followed, just the right stimulus is still enough to cause it to struggle against you. The green one, on the other hand, has more or less managed to form up a sort of partnership with his primal side, and is able to keep his inner beast considerably much better controlled than the one inside you." He leaned his head forward. "But prove yourself worthy to join my cause, and I could yet change that."

Adonis raised his eyebrow in confusion. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying, that just as helpful as you could be in serving directly under my cause, I could be equally helpful to you on a more personal manner than just giving you a sense of purpose and a place among friends. I could help you develop the ability to be more in tune with your inner beast, keep it under control better, and have more of a partnership with it then being locked in an uneasy war of control with it; just like the green shapeshifter from the Titans. And I know you would definitely be more than happy to get the chance to get even with him. In other words, I get a soldier, you get inner peace." He spread his arms to his sides in a 'win-win' gesture. "Just say the word, and the opportunity is yours."

Adonis grinned. "Oh I was sold the instant you brought up that green wimp. I'm definitely game. Name the test." The Beast inside him snarled angrily, but otherwise didn't respond.

"Excellent," the cloaked figure responded. "Now as I was saying, the test will involve that sorceress from the Titans."

"Go on," said Adonis. His inner Beast growled in rage, but Adonis kept it held back.

"Tomorrow evening," the shadowy one continued, "somewhere in this forest, the sorceress will be going for a little late night walk. While she is doing this, upon reaching an area of your choice, your test is to take her down, and if at all possible either capture her and bring her to me alive, or kill her if you must, in which case you bring back her dead body or at the very least a piece of it to present to me as proof of your success. Do that, and I just might very well consider you worthy of joining my army."

Adonis thought to himself. "Hmm, sounds easy enough. Very well, I accept the test; I must admit though, it sounds awfully specific."

"That's the beauty of it," said the hopeful future superior. "I make sure to always give hopeful recruits a unique means of proving their worth. Allows everyone to stay on their toes when dealing with me, and keeps them guessing and thinking critically. The last thing I need is to become predictable."

"Hmm," Adonis thought. "I suppose you do have a point there." He directed his gaze back at the cloaked figure once more. "But I must ask this, is there a specific time you want me to return to you with my proof of success? Even by spirited girl standards, she's bound to put up one hell of a fight. And in the event that I successfully take her down, I'd like to have the time to have a little fun with her beforehand . . . if you know what I mean."

"Whatever happens to her in between the moment you take her down and the moment you meet back up with me is none of my concern. Feel free to do as you wish beforehand, so long as you are able to meet up with me at the rendezvous point before turn of day. And as for the rendezvous point in question, I shall make sure you are perfectly well aware of where to find me before I send you out on your quest."

"If you say so," said Adonis.

"And even in that event, whatever you do in between apprehension and your return to the rendezvous point, do be prudent. The last thing I need is for you take your time to the point of getting careless and allowing for the opportunity for either your target to escape or for any of the other Titans to show up and find you with her. And I'd be especially on guard for her fellow Titans. As of yesterday, all but two of the members among the team's current quite large roster are present in Jump City."

Adonis gulped upon hearing this. "Ok," he thought to himself. "Scratch what I said earlier, this may be somewhat tougher than I originally thought." Then a small smile came on his face. "Duly noted sir, I'll be careful." His smile widened. "I've always enjoyed having a good challenge." Then he thought of one other tiny detail, and his smile took on a clear 'wait a minute' expression. "You said that she'd be going for a walk in the woods tomorrow evening," said the gangly 20-year old boy. "How exactly is it that you know for certain that she'll be doing that, or even in the forest at all, at that time?"

"Don't you worry," said the cloaked figure. "You won't have to worry one tiny bit about whether or not she'll show up, let alone setting things up so that she'll even be in the forest in the first place. I've already talked things out with another potential recruit. It will be entirely his job alone to worry about getting the witch into position for when you strike."

. . . . .

(Flashback: The Previous Day)

It was 8:00 in the evening on February 12, 2018, and a young goth boy was walking home through the rundown and far from pleasant city district that he called home. As he walked slowly along in the direction that led to where he lived, he mentally cursed and snarled in derision as he overheard the sounds of shouting, gunfire, and various other unpleasant activities going on in the area. "Screw them all," he thought to himself. "It's not my fault they live such pathetic lives, let alone that virtually the entire population of this section of the city consists of scum. Boohoo to them; they got problems? They can deal with all that themselves. I've got enough crap of my own." He directed a narrow eyed glare that looked almost like a sneer towards a small diner where there appeared to be several bikers of the standard thug-type build in the midst of a quite painful looking brawl. "Besides; it's not like I have any reason to worry. I may not look like much, but if they tried pulling anything on me, this entire district would be left cowering in fear of _me_."

The boy spat on the sidewalk, rolling his dark eyes in disdain. "God I can't believe I actually live in this pathetic city. Heck, the most boring town in Ohio would be more worth my time then this dumb place." He snarled, and shook his head side to side, sending his messy black hair billowing around in sync with the movement of his head. "Whatever," he thought to himself. "At least now I'm finally done sweeping around that shoddy old shopping mall and can finally go home, if you can really call it that."

Sure enough, he had now arrived at the front door to where he lived. The building question was a very rundown and virtually condemned looking building that looked like it had once been a hotel or apartment complex. For a brief moment, he turned his head and looked to see if there was anybody watching or following him. This behavior, in his mind, was more of a formality than anything else. After all, as he knew firsthand, this particular section of Jump City was such a large hell hole already that none of the residents would likely even care about what some random emo-looking boy was up to, the local police seemed to scarcely even care about some of the more serious and dangerous criminals that lived in these parts, let alone some teenager squatting in an abandoned building that should have been torn down possibly a decade ago, and the Teen Titans either weren't even aware of how much of a cesspool of crime this section of the city was, or just simply didn't care in light of the all the other events they had to deal with that even he had to admit actually were considerably more worrisome and worthy of their time compared to everything going on in this particular area of the city. But even so, he was not at all unfamiliar with the old saying of 'better safe than sorry', and so he made the effort to keep watch anyway.

He looked back at the door, satisfied that he was being neither watched, nor followed, and he opened the door and entered the derelict building that served as his makeshift home base. Upon entry, the state of disrepair that the building was in became even more obvious from the inside than it had already been on the outside. The boy merely shrugged at the sight. He didn't care, and quite frankly, he'd proven more than once over the entirety of his life spent living in this city that he could more than handle himself in this place. And so, he slowly made his way across the main foyer and up all the way to the area on the fourth floor that served as his official living space. Upon entry to that area, he pressed a few buttons, and smiled when he heard an electronic beep that indicated that the machine had fulfilled its intended purpose of activating the considerably high maintenance and seemingly quite complicated security system he'd set up throughout the entirety of all the areas of the building that weren't the one that served as his direct living space. Chuckling in smug satisfaction, he closed the door and locked it, a noticeable click ringing in the air as the locking mechanism snapped into place.

The boy turned around, observing the area around him. Then he lifted up his arms, yawning in half exhaustion and half satisfaction. He lowered his arms, blinked his eyes tiredly a couple times, and then walked on over towards the area that serve as his sleeping quarters. Upon entering his 'bedroom', he wasted no time in taking off his jacket and shoes, throwing them off to the side the instant they were off his body. Then he took off the black t-shirt he'd been wearing underneath his jacket, leaving him now shirtless and with only his socks and a pair of ragged jeans now keeping him clothed. Not even caring about this, he nonchalantly walked over to his bed, picked up a plain white undershirt lying across the top of the mattress, and slipped it on. Now no longer shirtless, the boy climbed up into bed and lay across it, staring upwards at the ceiling.

For what seemed like an hour, the boy remained as he was, staring blankly at the ceiling of his bedroom. Eventually, a small smile came on his face. "This place may suck butt," he said contentedly to himself. "But it's better than nothing. And besides," he turned his head to look towards an area of the wall that was very obviously boarded up as if there were a secret compartment hidden behind the wooden boards and planks. "One of these days, I'll get both the time and the resources I need to pull off a few more stunts and liven things up."

"That's certainly one way you could spend your life."

The boy's eyes widened, and he bolted into an upright sitting position on his bed in alarm. "Who's there!?"

For what seemed like an eternity, there was no response. As the boy continued to wait, nervously shaking and quite on the verge of panicking, he found himself sweating and nervously flicking his head left and right, his black eyes widened in fear. Eventually, right as the poor boy could have sworn he was on the verge of screaming or possibly even flat out bursting out into a psychotic panic tantrum, he finally heard the voice that had alerted him in the first place respond, "Relax, I'm not in the bedroom with you. Come right back to the main room, right where the entrance to your headquarters proper is located, and we can talk this out like proper human beings."

For a brief moment, the boy remained in his bed, carefully considering and weighing his options. He sighed, and hung his head. "If you say so." He looked back up towards the closed door to his bedroom. "Alright, I'm coming out, but I'm warning you, I'm gonna do it slow, and on guard. So you'd best be patient and not try pulling anything on me."

"I understand," said the voice. "Take your time."

The boy slowly got out of his bed and carefully made his way over towards the door, breathing heavily, and sweating in a mixture of nerves and anger. He reached the door, opened it, and proceeded just as slowly to depart from his bedroom and make his way over to the main entrance room of the 'apartment', just as the being responsible for the mysterious voice had suggested.

Upon arrival, the boy very noticeably paused in his movement, tensed up, and narrowed his eyes in wariness at the sight before him. Standing right in front of the door was an ominous looking figure dressed in a thick pitch black cloak complete with a large hood that completely covered its head. In fact, the only parts of the figure's body that weren't covered up beyond hope of sight were its nightmarish solid red eyes. The eyes in question were right this very moment gazing intently in the direction of the young boy. "Come on now," the figure then said in a calm tone. "I won't bite."

The boy looked down at his feet, and then back up at the figure, his eyes still narrowed in suspicion. Then he looked back down at his feet once more. "I think I'd much rather stay where I am right now," said the goth boy. He looked back up at the figure's hooded face. "Much more comfortable than being literally in the exact same room as you the way I see it." The boy paused, and then nodded his head. "No offense."

The being's left eye moved as if the being were raising its eyebrow. Then the eye moved back into its original position, and the figure nodded its head. "If you say so." The being folded its heavily sleeved arms across its chest. "Very well then, let us talk."

"Good. I know just the right way to start." The boy pointed his finger straight at the cloaked figure. "Who are you!? What are you doing here!? And better yet, _how_ did you even get in here!? That door was locked, I heard no sound of it opening, and there's no way you could have possibly gotten past that security system without supernatural powers or some other form of help!"

"You certainly got all that correct." The boy narrowed his eyes into a glare. "But to make a long story short, I'm not one of those random schmucks running around this trash pit. I'm in a league of my own, in more ways than one. And besides," he looked back over at the goth boy. "You're not the first person my master and I have kept our eyes on."

The boy's eyes widened, his face now practically white from horror and shock. "No," he thought to himself. "He can't be." He looked at the figure closely once again, and then gulped. "No, this can't be happening. There's no way they could have found me!" But at the same time though, he could hardly think of any other possible explanation or way to identify what was currently going on. And besides, from what the unexpected and now apparently quite unwelcome guest in his headquarters had now said about being part of a league, keeping his eyes on him, and also doing the same to others alongside some superior master. . . he carefully took a step backward, his hands raised in a combination of placation and to hint for the figure to stay back. "No," he managed to stammer. "No, you can't do this! I'm not going back there! I can't go back! I won't!"

"Relax," said the hooded figure. "I'm not here to hurt you."

"Oh sure you aren't," the boy growled spitefully, his eyes narrowed once again; but with his fear still equally present alongside the small bit of anger in his glare. "You're here to forcibly bring me back to Tibet, or Infinity Island, or whatever base of operations that's been deemed fit for me to be brought to and get me to join back up with you punks again! Or in the event that you fail to do that, to kill me to keep me from exposing any secrets that I may or may not know! Because that's how the League of Shadows works pal! They always carry out their work from the shadows, and they allow nothing about them to reach the light for anyone apart from their own! Ra's al Ghul drilled that into my head just as thoroughly as he's done to all of his other agents and underlings in the league, and no doubt as he's also done to you!"

The cloaked figure sighed, and then shook his head side to side, chuckling slightly as he did so. "I suspected that you'd think I was an agent of the League of Shadows."

"Well of course! That is what you are right?"

"On the contrary," the figure responded. "No. I'm not. And, really, surely my attire would be enough to give that away?"

"It's been 2-3 years since I fled from those freaks," the boy hissed. "They could have yet made some changes while I was away. And even so, you never know for sure what to expect from the League of Shadows!"

"True enough." The cloaked figure lowered his arms away from his chest. "But even so, I can assure you that I am indeed not an agent of the League of Shadows. In fact, if you had any idea just who I actually _do_ work for, you'd be wishing that the League of Shadows had found you here tonight."

"Oh yeah?" the boy snarled. "Prove it!"

The figure chuckled, his red eyes narrowing in pleasure. "You've certainly got spirit." He sighed in content, and then folded his arms across his chest once more. "Even before your death back in 2013, about 5 or 6 months after you first found yourself getting actively involved in the world of crime fighting and super beings, you were always a spirited fellow. Certainly nice to continue to see proof of how that part of you at least hasn't changed."

The boy's eyes widened, and his heart plummeted down to the very bottom of his stomach and then erupted right back upwards and into his mouth. He nervously lowered his finger, the arm in question now very noticeably shaking. "How did you know about that?" he asked.

The figure didn't respond, and the boy started shaking again. "You claim that you're not from the League of Shadows," he managed to whimper. "Yet you know about that! How?!"

"Please," said the cloaked figure. "My master, his underlings, and quite a large number of other beings of similar nature have been playing this kind of game long before the League of Shadows was even a concept." The figure nodded his head, and then directed his gaze at the boy once more. "And believe me, I know plenty more about you from where that came from."

The boy started feeling even more nervous, but he continued to work his hardest at maintaining an outwardly calm and guarded appearance. "Prove it," he growled.

"Gladly," the cloaked figure responded. He gestured his right arm towards the window of the room as if to indicate the area of the city where they were located. "You've certainly gotten one thing right in your thoughts about this hell hole. It's nothing compared to how there are similar districts in other locations, and even in fact more than one entire city that are considerably darker. And just to name an example, the city you were born in and lived your entire life in before your untimely demise was basically an entire city of this district cranked up to 11. And there's another city neighboring your birth city that's even _worse_."

The goth boy felt his heart start to freeze, but he continued to fight to keep it together.

"But never mind that, back to my original topic. You were born in Gotham City. You lived a relatively peaceful and happy life until your parents ended up quite savagely sent to an early grave when you were 9. From that point onward, you found yourself stuck at the local orphanage until you finally managed to get a new life more similar, yet also quite improved, to the one you'd led with your parents after getting adopted by one of the city's biggest public icons. At the time you were adopted, the man in question had already served as a surrogate father to a boy much like you, in more ways than one, who had ended up running away from home a month or two prior to him finding out about you. In fact, he actually became aware of your existence in a way that would have resulted in you very likely getting either sent to juvie or even flat out killed if it had been anyone else who'd caught you in that particular situation."

The cloaked figure folded his arms across his chest once more. "But nonetheless, you were adopted by this man as his second surrogate son, and when you came to find out about just what sort of things he was involved with, you were quite eager to join up with him. And what do you know, you ended up, just like the first boy he'd adopted, becoming his right hand boy in his activities."

The figure hung his cowled head. "Unfortunately, about 4 or 5 months after your adoption, things took a steep fall downhill. In an encounter with one of your surrogate father's particularly ruthless enemies, you were very brutally, and also quite needlessly, killed by said enemy. And he even had the gall to stick around and wait until virtually moments before your surrogate father arrived at the scene, and was still able to escape from the area before his arrival. But the damage had been done, and it took months for your surrogate father to recover after the experience."

The boy involuntarily shuddered. Even now, as he listened to the cloaked figure's account of the events, he could remember clear as day as if they'd only happened the previous day.

"But fortunately, even though you'd already departed to the afterlife, luck was still on your side. For as it turned out, your killer had been in a sort of partnership with the League of Shadows, and had served as a distraction for you and your adoptive father while they took care of a job. However, Ra's himself was there, and it didn't take long at all for him to come across your dead body long after both his hired distraction and your adoptive father had left the area. And when asked by his underlings present what to do, he knew exactly what he wished to happen. Out of both a desire to atone for indirectly being responsible for the tragedy as a result of being foolish enough to trust such a man as chaotically evil as your killer and a pragmatic wish to get a brand new member to add to the ranks of his loyal followers, he . . . you are familiar with Lazarus Pits I presume?"

The boy nodded. "Every member of the League of Shadows learns of them at some point or other."

"So they do," the cloaked figure admitted. "Well needless to say, you were brought all the way back to Infinity Island. And not too long after arrival, you were quite ceremoniously placed within a Lazarus Pit. And as is to be expected, you were revived, and for the next couple of months, plus a full year after that, you worked and trained diligently and obediently as an agent of the League of Shadows. However, in spite of you having been fully revived, you didn't quite come back 100% correct. Or to be more clear, you weren't entirely the same person you used to be. In fact, it was almost as if your killer had somehow pulled a horcrux and left a small part of his own soul inside you. And over time, as you got entrusted with more and more dangerous and higher profile assignments, you found yourself very dangerously at risk of succumbing to your more . . . unpleasant urges. And so, after one particularly narrow avoidance of succumbing to these urges, you escaped from the headquarters you were stationed at and fled all the way back to your country of birth. And not only did you escape from them, but you've since managed to pull off quite an impressive record of staying hidden and ahead of the League of Shadows in all their efforts at searching for you. You holed up in a somewhat low profile city on the exact opposite end of the country from where you were born, adapted yourself back to living life the way a normal civilian would surprisingly well, and masked yourself in quite a large variety of ways ranging from small alterations to your hair to changing all manner of your old personal information, including your name."

The figure then drew out what looked like just an ordinary wallet from seemingly out of thin air. "Though I must admit. . ."

The goth boy slapped at his pants pocket, his eyes widened in shock at the sight of the wallet, then briefly slipped his hand inside the pocket. Then he pointed his finger right back at the cloaked figure, his stunned and borderline horrified facial expression saying it all. "Hey that's my wallet! How did you . . .?"

The cloaked figure held up the hand that wasn't holding the wallet to silence the boy. "The things you don't know about me and my power could fill more books and libraries then you could possibly imagine." The figure tossed the wallet into the air and allowed it to fall right back upon the hand that had been grasping it. "And trust me, with the kind of sleeves I've got on my cloak, I've got enough room for quite an impressive collection of tricks."

The goth boy remained stunned for a few seconds more, and then he growled and shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Well never mind that!" he yelled. "Give me back my wallet!"

The cloaked figure ignored him, and opened up the wallet. "I have to admit," the figure then said as he gazed at the personal identity card within the wallet, "considering who your adoptive father was before your death, plus your own skill in this kind of field, I'm not sure whether or not I should be amused or disappointed in your choice of name. Quite honestly, I'd expected a much better job from you at choosing a new identity to use in changing your name."

The cloaked figure tossed the wallet back to the boy, who eagerly caught it in his hands, turning it around so he himself could look at the identity card, particularly at the area where his false name was written. "I mean really," the figure continued, "the differences between your old name and the one you currently go by are quite miniscule at best, if not flat out nonexistent."

"Well believe it or not," said the boy. "The fact that it's so obviously somewhat similar to my old name is precisely why I chose it." He looked up from his I.D. card and back at the hooded face of his unexpected visitor. "As you yourself made perfectly clear, in light of my skills, changing my name to an alias so obviously similar was the absolute last thing that anyone, let alone Ra's al Ghul or anyone else involved in the League of Shadows, ever would have expected. And as you can see right now, even after the last 2-3 years, they still haven't found me! So obviously it works!"

The cloaked figure remained silent for a few seconds, seemingly thinking to himself. "Hmm, I'll admit, when you put it that way, that actually _is_ pretty clever."

"Exactly," the goth boy purred with a smug cat-like grin on his face.

"Indeed." The cloaked figure nodded his head. "But never mind that. Back to the story. About a month or so following the day you managed to properly fully integrate into your new life here in Jump City, you eventually found yourself unexpectedly having to deal with your more psychopathic urges attempting to resurge and take control even though you weren't getting involved in any situations involving danger or even combat. But then, while at the local pizza place, you just happened to be there at the exact same time as the local Titans just in time to be lucky enough to overhear them privately talking about some of your predecessor's . . . shadier antics . . . from two years prior. And so, using your old skills, you managed to infiltrate their base, and make off with your predecessor's . . . ah . . . outfit and tools from said incident."

The goth boy's eyes widened once more, this time entirely in shock with absolutely no horror whatsoever. In the space of an hour at most, this mysterious figure had revealed himself to be aware of not one, but _two_ , of his biggest secrets.

"But thankfully for you, I'm not here as your enemy. In fact, I'm actually quite willing to help you . . . if, that is, you're willing to perhaps do a small favor for me in exchange."

For a brief moment, the boy remained silent, his head tilted as he carefully thought over what the mysterious cloaked figure had just said and offered. Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, the boy closed his eyes, and nodded his head. He looked his unexpected and now seemingly actually possibly quite helpful guest straight in the eye, his own eyes open once more. "I'm listening."

 **And just like that, another chapter done! Once again, I really hope this chapter makes up for the long wait I had to put you through before I finally got it finished and posted! And here's to also hoping that it doesn't take as long for me to finish and post the next chapter (though admittedly, I still require a minimum of 1 review being left for this chapter before I post said chapter, regardless of how long it takes for me to finish writing it). And on another note, here's some notes I'd best have a little talk with you about.**

 **A: I'm sure you noticed that mentioning of Raven reminding Kilowatt of an old friend of his from back where he came from while she was going over all the possible suspects for who her 'secret admirer' could be. Care to take a shot at guessing who this old friend is?**

 **B: Notice how, during Robin and Cyborg's brief chat in regard to the villains capable of being responsible for that red sunlight breathing dragon robot, Robin mentioned Luminus (as in that one villain very similar to the more villainous character to go under the name of Dr. Light first created for Superman: The Animated Series that managed to make one little minor appearance in an episode of the Justice League series)? Well with that in mind, you now have an example of how I plan, for the sake of my fanfiction stories, for the Teen Titans cartoon universe (which I shall remind you, am now actively referring to as the DCTTAU) to share more than one similarity with the official DCAU. And that being said, in light of what Robin said to explain how Luminus couldn't possibly have been responsible for said robo-dragon, he's only half right. Luminus did disappear, but he didn't vanish off the face of the Earth entirely. In fact, the Titans may very well have done battle with him more than once without even realizing it . . . if you get what I'm saying ;).**

 **C: You notice how I gave Adonis a civilian type of name? The name I've chosen to use for him (Donald Anderson) was actually something I've decided to borrow from Jovan2013's 'The Teen Titans Chronicles' fanfiction series. So credit for him people! ^_^**

 **D: You notice how, in the earliest segment of the Master's talk about the goth boy's life, he mentioned something about 'a neighboring city' of Gotham's that's actually even worse? I allow you 3 guesses as to the name of that city (though I'll give you this hint, with the description, it sounds like quite a haven for blood).**

 **E: And speaking of the Master's little flood of exposition, I allow you 3 guesses as to just who 'Goth Boy' actually is (and by that, I mean both his actual name, and the figure he's ended up becoming since his departure from the League of Shadows).**

 **And with all that in mind, once again, I hope you all enjoyed, that you leave plenty of feedback (with an absolute minimum of 1 review for this chapter), and that the next chapter doesn't take as long for me to finish! ^_^**

 **Coming up Next: On the night before Valentine's Day, Robin and Beast Boy allow for the final step of their plan to be set into motion. What could possibly go wrong? :/**


	9. A Heart Twice Broken

**Hey everyone! Guess what?! A new chapter! Granted, I SO meant to have this finished and posted this Monday; but hey, such is life. And that being said, hopefully this chapter will be good enough to more than make up for the wait (in spite of the somewhat depressing note this chapter ends on). In this chapter, Robin and Beast Boy set the final phase of their little plan into action. But at the end of this night, just how well will things work out? The answer may not be what you guys were hoping for just yet. And with that out of the way, here's to hoping you read, review, and (somewhat) enjoy.**

 **A/N: But first, I'll just remind you guys again that I do not own Teen Titans, or DC, or anything else that I may or may not have in here that belongs to a higher legal power than myself. Get that? Got that? Good. Onward with the new chapter!**

 **Chapter 8:**

 **A Heart Twice Broken**

It was now 7:00 pm, February 13, 2018, and the Titans were all having a very good time in the Jump City tower together. And to sweeten the deal, in spite of how many people were in the Tower, they were all still able to find time to spend either alone or with their partners of preference in peace. Raven, however, wasn't in the same room as virtually everyone else was at the moment. Rather, she was in the corridor where her room was located, peacefully snacking on the second overture she'd unexpectedly found in the tower that afternoon; a box of dark chocolate dipped strawberries from the local MaryAnn's.

She was actually quite glad that she was alone while eating this little snack. After all, she knew that quite the large majority of the other Titans would be quite surprised and never let her live it down; plus, she herself knew and had made clear that there were very few, if any, sweets that she liked to eat. But once again, much like with the orchids, her apparent secret admirer had proven himself to know her quite well, for this very snack from MaryAnn's that she was now feasting on was among the small number of sweets that she was both willing to eat and actually enjoyed. She popped yet another one of the berries into her mouth. To be honest, she'd actually lost count of how many she'd eaten at this point. But right now, she was too happy to care.

"Well someone's certainly having fun right now."

Raven's eyes widened, and she hurriedly slammed the lid back onto the box and slid it onto the floor next to her before turning her head to her left. As it turned out, none other than Robin was now standing a couple feet away with a quite amused look on his face. Raven groaned, her heart sinking at the sight of her fearless leader standing right there. "How long were you there?"

"Relax Raven." Robin walked calmly up to the teen sorceress. "I'm not gonna make fun of you. We all have our guilty pleasures and personal tastes." He pointed at the incriminating MaryAnn's box lying next to Raven. "And clearly, your secret admirer knows about this particular one of yours and loves you for it anyway."

Raven turned her head to look at the box of chocolates, then back at Robin. "Well yes," she admitted. "That is true."

"Indeed." Robin walked up closer to Raven. "And now that I think about it, I was actually planning right now to inform you that I found another little gift for you lying around in the common room."

Raven's eyes involuntarily widened at the sound of this. "Another one?"

Robin nodded his head. "Another one." He drew out what appeared to be some sort of book from the folds of his cape and handed it to Raven.

Raven grabbed onto the book, tore off the small sticker that read 'From your Secret Admirer', and looked intently at the cover. Her eyes involuntarily widened once again. The book in question was the newest released book of poems written by one of her favorite modern dark poets. "This book," she said. "It just came out yesterday."

"Like I said, this guy certainly seems to know you quite well."

Robin drew out a rolled up sheet of paper from a compartment within his utility belt. He extended it over to Raven. "I also found this lying right next to it."

Raven glanced at the paper, and then gingerly took it into her own hands. She unfurled it. As it turned out, it was a note from her apparent secret admirer. "Dear Raven," she read. "If you are reading this, then I presume that you have by now almost certainly managed to receive both the book I just now gave you alongside this note this evening as well as the box of chocolate dipped fruit I gave you this afternoon and the flowers I gave you this morning. If that is truly the case, then I truly do hope that you've enjoyed them. I've worked very hard to make sure that you received exactly the kind of gifts you'd actually want to have, especially on an occasion like tomorrow." Raven closed her eyes, a small smile and blush on her face. "He really does know me well," she thought to herself.

She opened her eyes and resumed her reading of the note. "That being said, with this final gift, I also wish to ask one request of you this evening. I will admit, yes this probably is rather early of me considering I only just started actually making this kind of effort for you today. And if you feel creeped out, uncomfortable, or likewise like you don't wish to jump this far ahead just yet, I'll understand. Heck, if our roles were reversed, I'd probably feel pretty weirded out to." Raven rolled her eyes when she read that part. "Well this definitely rules out Speedy," she thought to herself. "He'd never admit to something like that. He's too proud."

She directed her attention back to reading the note. "But nonetheless, either tonight if you wish to, or at some other time of your choosing if you don't feel comfortable just yet, I would be very happy indeed if we could perhaps meet somewhere in the city, relatively alone, face to face, and talk things out. I'm not sure if I have the experience to truly understand, let alone know, what love is, but I really am willing to see if perhaps that is in fact the way I may very well be feeling towards you. Again, if you decide to take me up on this offer at a later date, I understand; especially as long as you inform of what alternate time and date you'd prefer in a response to this note. And in the event that you accept the currently offered time, then in the event that if I don't make it to the planned rendezvous point and you end up waiting there for me all night without me ever showing up, I promise you now, that it will be for perfectly good reason." Raven sighed upon reading this line. "I sure do hope so," she said to herself. Then she directed her attention back to the note one more time. "That being said, if you accept tonight's offer for this rendezvous, I shall hopefully meet up with you in the town square located between Jump City Park and the area where Cook's Electronics used to be . . . at about 9:00 pm maybe? Either way, I hope to meet up with you and stop working from the shadows. You've already got enough shadows around you; I deserve to work more in the light to balance you out." At that Raven felt another small blush come on her cheeks, genuinely touched by the comparison. "Signed, 'Your Secret Admirer'," Raven then finished.

The sorceress looked up at Robin, who had a small smile on his face. "Well that certainly got heavy," said the Boy Wonder.

Raven rolled her eyes, and then looked back at the note, carefully considering the offer presented in it. "What do you think I should do?" Raven asked. It was really more of a formality at this point then a genuine need for advice.

Clearly, Robin knew that as well. "Don't ask me Raven. It's your call." He folded his arms across his chest, a wolf-like grin now starting to come onto his face. "Though personally, I'd recommend you make that call real soon and get a response ready. It's already 7:15 now, and clearly your secret admirer means business. And we certainly wouldn't want him to go to that location tonight at 9:00 and learn the hard way that you never even came without even giving him a response."

Raven thought to herself, and looked at the note once more. She considered the offer. Admittedly, the offered time was rather early, something the admirer himself appeared quite aware of. Then again, depending on who it was, and she was now starting to get a very idea of which of the two most likely suspects now was the secret admirer, if he perhaps truly did feel actual love for her, and possibly maybe even already felt that kind of love without even realizing it for quite a long time beforehand, then just maybe meeting up with him this early and getting the whole situation resolved at the very least and possibly blossomed into something even better at the very most wouldn't be such a bad idea.

In that moment, Raven made up her mind. She looked back at Robin. "You'd best get back to Starfire right now," she then said. She turned around and started walking in the direction of her bedroom, picking up the now half empty MaryAnn's box as she went. "Right now, I'll be in my room writing up a worthy response to this newest overture. Once it's prepared, I'll find you and let you know so you can drop it off someplace where it should be easy enough for my secret admirer to find it. And he'd definitely better find it, because my answer's yes."

. . . . .

At around 8:00, Beast Boy was lying on the sofa in the common room. The gathering that night had finally started to wind down around 5 or 10 minutes ago. And as of this moment, all the visiting Titans from the extended branches had departed back to their ships (in the case of Titans North and South), private personal apartment suite (in the case of Titans East), and the basement (in the case of Titans Central). Now, Beast Boy was feeling quite tired. In fact, at this rate, just about the only thing that would prevent from possibly flat out blacking out into sleep right there on the couch within the next few minutes would have to be . . . he heard footsteps walking towards him from behind the sofa.

In a flash, Beast Boy reared up and turned his head to look in the direction of the footsteps. As it turned out, none other than Robin had just now arrived in the common room and walked up to him. Beast Boy slumped, practically glowering now in annoyance. "Oh," he grumbled. "It's you."

"Indeed it is," said Robin. He came to a stop practically inches away from Beast Boy's position. "And I sure as Hell hope you weren't about to fall asleep just now." He drew out a rolled up piece of paper and extended it out towards the changeling. "Because I'd very much prefer you _not_ keep Raven waiting."

Beast Boy's eyes snapped wide open upon hearing this, and he quite noticeably straightened up in his position on the couch. He practically snatched the paper out of Robin's hand and unfurled it fast enough that Robin thought it a miracle that the changeling didn't accidentally rip it up in his excitement. Beast Boy read it as quickly, yet carefully as he could, and he couldn't have possibly felt happier. Against all odds, Raven had accepted the offer to meet up with him at 9:00 pm that very night, and had even gone so far as to repeat his own words back to him in describing how she would hopefully have good reason to be absent in the event that he came and she never showed up.

"She's in her room right now getting herself prepared as we speak."

Beast Boy looked up at Robin, who carefully pointed towards the window in the direction of the city. "Now would be a good time to get out there; get a head start so that you're in position when she arrives."

Beast Boy grinned, slipped the note into his pants pocket, and got up from the couch. "Don't you worry Robin," said the changeling. "I'm on my way." He turned into a peregrine falcon and flew off towards the door leading to the staircase to the rooftop entrance. He reverted back to human form just long enough to open, go through, and close the door to said rooftop entrance. Then he assumed his peregrine falcon form all over again and took off towards Jump City. And as he flew through the skies towards his intended destination, his falcon eyes were narrowed in determination. "I'm gonna do this," he thought to himself. "I'm gonna _do_ this!"

. . . . .

Meanwhile, hanging around the entrance to the docks was the goth boy. And at that particular moment, he was not entirely in the best of moods. "The things I'm willing to accept before I realize the full magnitude of what it is I have to do," he grumbled out loud to himself, quite glad that he was the only person present in the area. He turned his head to face the relatively distant shape of Titans Tower, a glare on his face. "How the heck does Mr. Organization XIII expect me to meet up with that witch tonight? She's bound to be in the Tower with the rest of her team mates by now! And there's no way in Hell I could possibly meet up with her in there without having to kidnap her! Heck, even if I did that, there's no way in Hell that things would work the way Shadow Man wants it to!" He shook his head angrily, practically growling now. "This is so not worth the rewards he promised," he grumbled venomously.

Then he noticed a movement in the sky out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head, and his eyes involuntarily widened in surprise at the sight of what was now hovering in the air towards the city. "I may have spoken to soon." Sure enough, he could now see none other than the very person that the black cloaked figure had tasked him with meeting with that night levitating through the air towards the city.

The goth boy remained absolutely still, watching intently as the teenage Azarathian sorceress levitated past his location and further towards somewhere within the interior of the city. Right as she was virtually seconds away from getting dangerously close to escaping from his eyesight, he abruptly managed to remember what his mission was, and he hurriedly started running off to try to follow her. "Can't lose sight of her," he thought to himself. "If I screw up this mission, Shadow Man will _so_ not be happy." And from what he'd managed to gather about the mysterious cloaked figure's aura alone, he had a feeling that he'd be capable of inflicting punishments that would make him _wish_ for Ra's al Ghul's worst torture tactics.

For what seemed like hours (and as far as he cared probably actually were hours), the goth boy pursued the airborne sorceress from the ground, swearing mentally every time he came close to losing her, and gasping just as profusely in relief every time he finally managed to successfully get her firmly in his sights once more. "Good grief, she could really give the League of Shadows agents a serious run for their money," he whispered to himself as he continued his pursuit. "At this rate, she'd definitely better come to a stop soon," he continued. "I'm not sure if I'm can continue to keep up with her for long if she stays airborne."

As if on cue, the sorceress started to slowly lower downwards. In a flash, the goth boy started running faster, desperate to see if he could be in position to properly glimpse where she'd be landing. As it turned out, much to his luck, he was able to catch sight of her coming increasingly close to some town square type location not too far away from where the old Cook's Electronics store used to be. At this point, he finally started to slow down to a walk. Now that Raven was so close to coming to a landing, he was certain that he could afford to take the risk of slowing down.

"Finally," he thought to himself. "Scratch what I said earlier, things are definitely starting to look up for me tonight."

He came to a stop inches away from the nearest entrance to the town square he'd noticed Raven heading towards, and then carefully took a peek around the wall he was standing by to look inside. He could now see Raven standing near a lamppost on the side opposite where he was located. She appeared to be waiting for someone. Though of course, from what he'd heard about her, and actually had somewhat gotten a hint about from an encounter with her before his first death now that he thought about it, you could never really tell what she thinking, feeling, or likewise up to unless you knew her really well indeed. And he was not too proud to admit that he was most certainly not among the people who knew her at that strong of a level.

For a brief moment, he tensed up as if about to go ahead and walk right into the area and make himself known. Then he paused, shook his head, and calmed himself down. "No," he thought to himself. "Not yet. She's only just arrived. Odds are, she'll be on guard. Best I wait, give her a chance to calm down somewhat; not to mention see if she's expecting anybody else to show up here with her." He checked his watch; it was now 8:20. "I can probably afford to wait a little while or so," he thought to himself.

So he waited. And for a long while, nothing happened. Then at one point, after very narrowly managing to avoid falling asleep, he checked his watch once more. It was now 8:50. "Holy smokes," he thought to himself. He hurriedly looked into the town square again, and mentally sighed in relief upon seeing that Raven was still there. He took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Now's probably a safe enough time to make my move." He carefully entered the square and took five or six cautious steps in Raven's direction. So far, by sheer luck on his part, the sorceress hadn't noticed him. He mentally steeled himself, quietly taking another deep breath. "Here goes nothing," he thought to himself.

His mission, as explained by the cloaked figure the previous night, was seemingly quite simple. All he had to do was meet up with Raven, have a little talk with her if able, perhaps maybe develop a small inkling of a friendship with her if lucky, and then somehow convince her to take a walk in the local forest sometime tomorrow evening. As long as he didn't screw up right now, that kind of series of tasks really wouldn't be all that hard. He cleared his throat . . . loudly . . . and Raven snapped her head around to face the direction she'd heard the sudden noise coming from.

. . . . .

Raven hadn't been entirely certain what to expect when she'd turned her head upon hearing an unexpected noise that sounded like someone clearing his throat. But she certainly hadn't been expecting some random goth looking boy standing around on the opposite side of the town square, and she partially lowered her guard, her outer appearance betraying no hint of any such lowering.

"Sorry," said the boy, clearly aware of what Raven's facial expression and body language meant. "I was just walking by and I noticed you here." He lowered his hands from their initial placatory position and slipped them into the pockets of his grayish black leather jacket. "A bit late in the evening to be out and about don't you think?"

Raven raised her eyebrow. "I do believe I could say the same for you."

The boy opened his mouth as if about to respond, then thought to himself, and then nodded in concession. "Touché."

"And for the record," Raven continued. "Last time I checked, knowing who I am, I'm sure you'd be well aware that I'm usually more than capable of taking care of myself."

"Well yeah, that is true," the goth boy admitted. A sheepish look came on his face. "Instinctive courtesy act I guess. Sorry."

Raven softened a little more, now realizing how rude she'd likely just acted. "No need, it's fine," she said. "I probably could've been a bit politer. And thanks for the concern. It's appreciated."

"Hey it's fine," said the goth boy. "I've experienced worse levels of rudeness. Your behavior just now is hardly that bad." He paused for a moment. "So what exactly are you doing out here right now?"

"Is that entirely your business?"

"Well you don't have to tell me, I'm just curious." The boy stretched his arms skyward, yawning slightly in the process. "Me personally, I like to go for a late night walk before bed. Helps me relax and get in the right state of mind I need in order to sleep properly. I hear activities like this tend to have that kind of effect on a lot of people."

"I can imagine," Raven responded politely. She then thought to herself. "What time is it?"

The goth boy checked his watch. "It's about 8:55 now," he responded. He looked back up at Raven. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh I was just curious."

The goth boy just stared blankly at the sorceress, clearly not satisfied with the answer. After about a minute, Raven relented. "I'm supposed to meet with someone here around 9:00."

"Ah," said the goth boy. He briefly turned his head and looked towards the sky, now feeling a little nervous. "I'm guessing one of your teammates?"

"Likely," said Raven. "I mean, whoever the person I'm supposed to be meeting here tonight is, he's recently been playing the role of my 'secret admirer'." She folded her arms across her chest. "And quite frankly, considering the fact that all three of the little gifts he's left for me as overtures have been left directly within the tower and been among the kinds of things that I really like a lot; and believe me, that information isn't something I give out freely, even to my four fellow founders; then it would only be logical that he's one of my teammates."

"I see," said the goth boy. He thought to himself. "This could complicate things," he mentally noted. "Well even so, maybe it would be ok if I kept you company and talked while you wait?" He mentally face palmed. This was _Raven_. She _liked_ being on her own. "I mean, if you want to anyway . . ."

"I guess I wouldn't mind."

The goth boy raised his eyebrow. He hadn't been expecting to get the chance to talk to Raven that easily.

Raven seemingly was quite aware of this factor. "I mean, if things work out to the point of me developing . . . _that_ kind of relationship . . . with my apparent secret admirer tonight, then I could very well have some need to have somewhat better social skills; and having a little talk with you right now while I'm waiting could help me get some much needed practice."

The goth boy thought to himself. "That . . . does sound reasonable I guess." Mentally, he was just as much cheering and celebrating how surprisingly easily he was now getting the chance at fulfilling his assigned mission as he was acknowledging the logic behind Raven's comment. Then he smiled as he realized a legitimately true comment that would possibly help Raven feel somewhat even more comfortable around him. "Heck, now that I think about it, it's probably about high time we had a little talk together. After all," he directed a purely companionable smile towards the teenage sorceress, "you never did tell me whether or not you liked any show tunes."

Raven raised her eyebrow. "I'm sorry," she deadpanned. "Have we met before?"

"Actually yes," said the goth boy. "Five years ago."

"Oh that _so_ narrows it down."

"Around late July or early August?" the goth boy stated, now regretting having forgotten the exact date.

Raven also noticed how he was starting to question himself. "That tone of yours is most certainly not making it any easier for me to believe you."

"At some warehouse," the goth boy continued. "There was a party going on there . . . and then some flying robotic squids attacked."

For a quite brief moment, Raven still remained skeptical. Then her eyes widened as she finally remembered exactly what event the goth boy was talking about. "Oh yeah," she commented. "I do remember that day now." And indeed she did, at the time that the boy had now mentioned, Starfire's elder sister Blackfire had dropped by to visit (albeit, while on the run from some alien cops from the distant Centauri Moons system and had attempted to frame Starfire for the theft of a valuable gemstone from said star system) and had brought her sister and the rest of the Titans to a party going on at what she'd described to be a creepy rundown warehouse in an effort to further get in the good graces of her sister's four fellow founders and make sure her sister would be out in the open for yet another attempt by the alien cops to apprehend Starfire in her place. And that being said, she now remembered how, over the course of that party, she had been approached by this very boy and had a small conversation with him before he had then fled in fear from the sight of one of the alien cops' robotic flying squid-like drones rocketing right past them with Beast Boy in its grasp. Since then, she had never once seen, talked to, or mentioned this boy at all . . . until now.

The goth boy himself, as he'd made clear in his efforts at helping Raven herself remember it, also remembered the event in question quite well (apart from having forgotten the exact date it had occurred). At the time, it had been at least one or two months after he'd first gotten adopted, and the likewise appropriate number of months before his death. His adoptive father, having managed to successfully figure out the exact location where his previous ward had holed up, had decided to travel there to check on him from afar, and had brought him along to put him through one final minor test before joining him in the 'family business'. At that time, he'd taken on the public guise of a goth boy strictly as a disguise. This same disguise had, after his death, resurrection, and escape, had become a genuine interest and default public identity as part of his work in keeping himself hidden from the League of Shadows. And over the course of his work in keeping watch over the boy in question, he had attended the party and engaged in social interaction with Raven as a means of blending in and working to improve his own social skills that had been severely stunted by his time in the Gotham City Orphanage. Now, after multiple years, and more than one encounter while in his somewhat more sinister hidden identity, he was finally encountering Raven yet again, and for the second time ever in the identity that he'd first met her as.

And for a time, without even realizing it, the pair soon ended up taking part in quite the lengthy discussion. And the goth boy found himself enjoying the conversation so much, that he completely lost track of both time _and_ his original intended goal. Then Raven suddenly stopped talking, a wide eyed look of shock on her face. The goth boy noticed this, stopped talking, and raised his eyebrow.

"What time is it?"

At the sound of this question, the goth boy's eyes widened in surprise of his own, and he hurriedly checked his watch. "It's 10:00," he responded.

Raven frantically started looking around, then she sighed, and hung her head. "Pity," she said. "He never showed up."

At the sound of this, and the sight of the somewhat deflated and upset look that Raven had now taken, the goth boy felt his heart legitimately sink in genuine sympathy and sadness. He himself had occasionally made an effort at initiating courtship with local girls, only to end up getting stood up by almost every single girl that he'd hoped to engage in a relationship that consisted of more than a one-night stand, of which he'd managed to take part in a quite large number that would very likely impress even his surrogate father, who actually had quite an impressive record of his own when it came to sexual romantic matters. And he knew exactly how Raven was likely feeling at the apparent tardiness of her apparent 'secret admirer'.

"Hey it's alright," said the goth boy, briefly tempted to place his hand on her shoulder, but managing to hold himself back from doing so out of fear of how she'd react to the not necessarily wanted physical contact from him. "I'm sure that whoever it is, he had perfectly good reason to be late." He nodded his head as if to confirm both Raven and himself of the truth behind the statement. "And besides, since he's likely your teammate, odds are he's also truly at least a good friend of yours as well. And if he truly is your friend, not to mention if he truly loves you, then he'll almost certainly make an effort to try this out again! I'm sure of it! You don't have to give up this early on just because of one little disappointment. Not at all!"

For what seemed like an eternity, Raven said nothing, seemingly deep in thought. The goth boy found himself getting increasingly nervous from Raven's continued lack of response. "Well," she eventually said. "I guess you're right. I mean, he did say in his note to expect him to only be late if he had an especially good reason." The goth boy mentally exhaled in relief. "And besides," Raven continued. "Giving up right now over this would go completely against the words of the very song that I like that's virtually the only upbeat song that I know of that I actually like." She nodded her head. "Yeah," she admitted. "I guess you're right. I'll give him a chance to make another attempt."

"That's good," said the goth boy. And he genuinely meant it to. "Perhaps we could discuss that again the next time we talk?" Raven turned her head to face him, her eyebrows raised, and the boy mentally face palmed once again. "I mean, if you want to meet and talk with me again. I mean, I'd understand if you don't. After all, talking to random civilians and having strong friendships with them isn't exactly included or encouraged within the job description and all."

Raven continued to stare at the boy, and he found himself feeling increasingly nervous. Then Raven nodded her head. "I guess it would be ok to talk with you a couple more times." The goth boy mentally exhaled in relief. "Is there any time in particular you're willing to try to meet up and talk again?" Raven asked.

"Actually yes," said the goth boy, now finally remembering his original goal. "Perhaps sometime tomorrow evening in the forest? I like to go for walks there every now and then."

Raven thought to herself. "I suppose I could," said the sorceress. She folded her arms across her chest, still deep in thought. "Granted, it depends on when my little outing tomorrow ends."

"Outing?"

"Oh sorry, I forgot, you're not on my team."

The goth boy raised his eyebrow, a rather amused looking smirk on his face.

" _Not_ remotely what I meant," said Raven.

The goth boy chuckled. "I know, I know, I'm just messing with you. But otherwise, what's this about your little outing you mentioned?"

"For Valentine's Day," Raven clarified. "One of my teammates and I are going to spend the majority of the day at the zoo . . . Valentine's Day week special ticket offers you know? And well, this particular teammate of mine really loves animals, and he and I both thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of this . . . seasonal opportunity, and we could spend the day there on a date as friends. And our leader even managed to score our tickets in advance yesterday so that we could arrive as early as we wanted and be in time to enter at the zoo's opening time."

"I see," said the goth boy.

"But nonetheless," said Raven. "Like I said, depending on how long it takes before our time at the zoo ends, I could at some point meet you in the woods later that evening."

"In that case, I'll be waiting there." The goth boy nodded to himself, now feeling quite glad that Raven would have at least virtually one entire day's worth of happiness with a friend beforehand in the event that whatever the shadowy cloaked figure had planned for her succeeded.

Raven thought to herself, and then nodded. "If I'm able to meet up with you tomorrow, I'll send you a signal to let you know that I can do so. Fail to see my signal, you'll know to expect a need to reschedule."

"Got it," said the goth boy. "Wait for signal. I can do that."

"Good," said Raven. She sighed in a mixture of content and tiredness. "I'd best head back home now. Considering how early me, my friend, and our leader have registered the beginning of tomorrow's outing, I'm gonna need all the sleep I can get."

"Understandable," the goth boy admitted, now feeling very tired himself. "I'll see you later."

Raven nodded, turned around, and tensed up as if about to take to the air. Then she paused, and she turned around to face the goth boy once more. "Actually," she said. "There's one more thing I probably should do before I go."

The goth boy raised his eyebrow. "Ok then?" he asked.

Raven pointed at him. "I never got your name did I?"

The goth boy thought to himself, and then nodded in agreement. "No you did not."

Raven waited for about a minute or two, but the goth boy didn't respond. The sorceress folded her arms across her chest. "Perhaps you'd be willing to tell me? I mean, if we're going to be friends, then I might as well at least know your name, because I'd very much prefer not to constantly refer to you as goth boy or some other random nickname."

The goth boy thought to himself upon hearing this. "Fair point," he thought to himself. He looked back at Raven. "In that case," he said, "I guess I can go ahead and give you that courtesy." He hung his head, took a deep breath, and then exhaled. Even after how many years he'd spent safely hidden from the League of Shadows in the last few years that had followed his escape from them, he always got nervous whenever he had to give anyone a name to refer to him by. After all, as the cloaked figure had made quite clear the previous night, an especially smart and observant individual would not be fooled by the false name he used as his civilian alias. He looked back up at Raven. "It's Todd," he responded. He smiled slightly. "Todd Jameson."

Raven thought to herself. "Hmm, nice name," she said out loud.

'Todd' smiled. "Glad you think so." He jokingly bowed. "And now, we shall be _very_ good friends."

Raven rolled her eyes at the boy's joking bow. "So we will," she droned. She turned around to face the direction of the tower once more. "See you at a later date."

"Copy that," 'Todd' responded. He nodded his head. "Have fun on your outing tomorrow."

Raven nodded her head. "I'll see what I can do."

The sorceress took to the air and flew back towards Titans Tower. The goth boy remained standing where he was for a moment, feeling a small sense of nostalgia at the sight of the flying teen sorceress. "Man," he thought to himself. "I used to idolize Superman so much before my parents' deaths." Then he sighed, remembering how negative and dark his life had become since the final day in which he'd so fervently been at the point of almost worshipping the Man of Steel. "Pity I had to grow up," he thought to himself. "And at such an early age to." He sighed once more, shook his head side to side, and turned around to leave the town square he'd spent the past hour or so and return home. And for once, the negative emotions he felt as he made the long walk back to his home were genuine regret as opposed to irritation and disdain.

. . . . .

Meanwhile, in a small alleyway a couple miles or so between the park and the town square, a forlorn looking green wolf loped across the path with its head low, its tail hanging limp, and a now seemingly wilted bouquet of black orchids in its jaws. Beast Boy was not happy, not anymore. He had arrived around the area where he'd planned to meet up with Raven with about half an hour to spare. Unfortunately, due to unexpectedly taking longer than he'd initially planned in finding the exact area in Jump City Park where he'd hidden the flowers and then briefly getting lost on his way from the park to the town square, he'd ended up arriving around 15 minutes past 9:00.

Unfortunately, right as he'd been about five steps away from stepping out of the shadows and though the entrance he'd chosen to use, he'd caught sight of a very unwelcome and disheartening image. Raven had been present within the chosen location . . . and she'd been deep in conversation with someone else. And of course, the other person had been a boy; and a very familiar looking goth boy at that. For what had seemed like an eternity, Beast Boy the wolf had remained practically frozen in position with a stunned look on his wolf form's face as he watched, too stunned to even hear what the two dark aura bearing teenagers were saying. And by the time he'd finally regained the ability to move, he'd been so overwhelmed by thoughts of what had apparently been going on that he'd turned away and proceeded to swiftly, yet silently, run away from the area as far as he could without even giving himself a chance to hear a word that they were saying.

Needless to say, he was now quite despondent. Unlike Raven, he had recognized and remembered the goth boy directly upon sight. And thanks to the context that he'd caught sight of them under, and a mixture of his shock and despair, he'd come to a very disheartening and somewhat logical, albeit inaccurate, conclusion. "God curse me," he thought to himself despondently, still in wolf form. "I'm too late. I know I should have hidden these flowers closer to the rendezvous point!"

The green wolf turned its head and directed a despondent look back in the direction of the intended rendezvous point. "She probably thinks that _he's_ the secret admirer now."

It had to be admitted, under any other circumstances, Beast Boy would have been more than capable of realizing how illogical it would be for Raven to come to such a misconception. But at that particular moment, he was so flooded now with his own despair that the more rational side of his mind was too heavily emotionally clouded for his better judgment to properly come into play.

Beast Boy turned his head away, mentally sighing despondently in defeat. "Oh well," he thought to himself. "I guess I'd best say goodbye to going to the zoo tomorrow." He hung his head. "Or if not that, at least to whatever chance I may have currently had at not being single this Valentine's Day . . . or ever."

Slowly, carefully, and quite despairingly, the green wolf placed the now sadly seemingly no longer needed bouquet down on the ground in front of him. He lifted his head, still staring down at the flowers, sniffling and whimpering like a dog in his wolf form. "It's not fair." He turned his head, forlorn look still on his face, and gazed in the direction of the tower and his intended rendezvous point. "It's. Not. Fair." He sniffled again; and then, very slowly, fighting to avoid breaking down, lifted his head up towards the sky. With a sniffle, followed by a deep breath, he closed his eyes, directed his wolf form's head at a complete vertical angle, and uttered a mournful, despairing, heartbroken howl at the moon.

 **And just like that, the new chapter's over. And like I said, I hope you read and somewhat enjoyed this new chapter in spite of how it ended. Heck, to be honest, in the original idea for this chapter's events I had in my head before I wrote it, it would actually have been somewhat more depressing how this chapter unfolded. For starters, I was originally going to have Raven bring along the first bouquet to the rendezvous point and be fooled into thinking that the goth boy was her secret admirer. Also, my plan was for Beast Boy to arrive and be present the entire time that the goth boy was present and overhear the entirety of the conversation between him and Raven. And finally, I was going to have the goth boy smash the first bouquet under his foot after Raven left and likewise act very much like a huge jerkass after our favorite teen sorceress's departure before departing in time for Beast Boy to despondently walk in as a wolf long after both Raven and the goth boy were gone before doing his 'mournful howl'. But over the course of writing this chapter/story and the stories that came before this one, I realized that, by this point, I've already fit in too much BBRae ship tease and similar elements and whatnot that would make this chapter's events the way I'd originally planned them far too out of left field. So instead, as you can see, I've had it unfold so that Raven would really view our infamous goth boy, 'Todd Jameson', as just a friend, have 'Todd' remain somewhat more characteristic to the way he was in the previous chapter (and the actual Teen Titans cartoon) as more of a somewhat sympathetic character than an outright jerkass and borderline villain, and have Beast Boy just mistakenly THINK that Raven now thought that 'Todd' was her secret admirer and decided to become his girlfriend. So yeah, this chapter could have been worse huh? On another note, here's a couple notes I might as well mention.**

 **A: That little bit with Raven eating the contents of that box of MaryAnn's chocolate dipped strawberries? I got that idea from NeneJPhilly's 'Day of St. Valentine' story.**

 **B: I'm sure you noticed that little nod to how the goth boy (aka. 'Todd') made an appearance in 'Sisters'? Here's to hoping that I did a good job in fitting what I've set up for this character's story to properly fit within the events of the DCTTAU and it's fanfiction continuation now being written by 'moi'. And for that matter, I'm sure you can now not only DEFINITELY guess who 'Todd' actually is (in regards to his civilian name), but also understand what the 'master' meant when he referred to how very similar his chosen false civilian name is to his real civilian identity.**

 **And just like that, I'll leave you to your reading, hopefully to some degree enjoying, and reviewing this new chapter. And once again, I require a minimum of 1 review for this new chapter before I post the next chapter (once its completed). Again, have fun!**

 **Coming up next: Valentine's Day has arrived. And in spite of Beast Boy's fears, he and Raven still manage to have their outing together at the zoo. Meanwhile, at the same time that our favorite chromatically challenged couple is having their little day trip (sadly still as friends at this point in the DCTTAU) at the Jump City Zoo, the other Titans, especially the couples, find their own ways to happily spend the day. But just how will the day's outcome be affected after what has now unpleasantly managed to unfold in this past chapter? Find out next time, on Shadows of Love!**


	10. A Valentine's Day to Remember

**Hey everybody! At last, at long last, we FINALLY have a new chapter! I can only say that I am SO sorry it took so long this time. This chapter has turned out to be so long (and thus took quite longer to write then I expected; particularly combined with the fact that I also at this point have school to worry about as well). But regardless, here's to hoping this chapter proves more than worth the wait! In this chapter, Beast Boy and Raven have their planned outing at the zoo (all in spite of Beast Boy's fears from the previous night), and all the other Titans likewise find ways to keep themselves entertained this Valentine's Day. The couples in particular have plenty of time for fun together. But just how well will this day end? Find out, in this new chapter!**

 **A/N: But first, let me remind you again, I do not own Teen Titans, or anything else DC based or similarly owned by a higher legal power.**

 **Also;**

 **Jack Whitty: Sorry I didn't respond to your review earlier, but I'm afraid I'm gonna have to pass on writing that Seitokai no Ichizon/Teen Titans crossover. For starters, I don't know Jack about Seitokai no Ichizon. And secondly, just look at my profile, and you'll see quite clear as a crystal that I've already got enough on my plate fanfiction-wise as it is. So I'm afraid you're gonna have to turn to someone else to get that crossover.**

 **Msbkw0rm: Well I'm glad you had so much positive stuff to say and that you're enjoying this story! I'll definitely make sure to keep up the good work! Heck, feel free to continue reviewing and to comment on my previous two stories as well! That being said, it's a real pity you don't have an account. I'm sure that there's so much I could ask you and talk to you about regarding my stories if you did! Oh well.**

 **Chapter 9**

 **A Valentine' Day to Remember**

The very next day, at exactly 6:00 am sharp, Raven was the first of the Titans to awaken. In fact, at exactly 6:15, she was already seated at the kitchen island, patiently waiting for Beast Boy to wake up and come out of his room. As she patiently waited, she briefly directed a glance at the small picnic basket lying right in front of her on the kitchen island surface. For some odd and, for the moment, undisclosed reason, Robin had insisted on preparing and packing up a breakfast for her and Beast Boy to have in the park for an early morning picnic at around 6:30 before they went to the zoo just in time for when it opened at 8:00. She wasn't entirely certain why, but since Robin had very clearly put a lot of hard work into getting this element set up just as he'd done for the zoo trip itself, she hadn't had the heart to turn down the offer. And so, she was now still waiting for Beast Boy to arrive so they could leave for the park.

At around 6:25, Raven got up from her seat and began to make her way to Beast Boy's room. "Something's wrong here," she thought to herself. Granted, it wasn't rare for Beast Boy to complain about being woken up too early. But at times when he believed it really mattered, he was usually the first one awake . . . and considerably earlier than the current time to. The fact that he still hadn't apparently woken up yet today, and especially considering the important event that had been scheduled for him, was more than enough reason for Raven to feel concerned.

The door to Beast Boy's room opened automatically as designed once Raven was three steps away from it, and she entered. At the sight of Beast Boy still asleep in his bed, she found herself feeling both annoyed and also concerned. She levitated up to the top bunk, placed her hand on Beast Boy's back, and rubbed on it hard enough to shake the sleeping changeling side to side. "Wake up," said the sorceress.

Beast Boy grumbled for a few moments, but then his head snapped up with his eyes likewise snapping wide open when Raven started shaking him a little harder. "What? Danger? I'm up!" Beast Boy shouted frantically, not entirely in a rational state of mind from his abrupt awakening. Then he calmed down, raised his eyebrow, and turned his head in time to see Raven still hovering near his bed. "Um, what are you doing in my room?"

"Zoo today remember?" said Raven.

For a brief moment, Beast Boy said nothing. "We're . . . still doing that?"

Raven nodded her head. "Of course we are," she responded. She drew the two tickets out from her cloak. "Robin got the tickets for us yesterday and everything. He even prepared a picnic breakfast for us to have in the park this morning before the trip."

For another brief moment, Beast Boy was speechless. Then he shook his head side to side as if clearing his thoughts, and a small smile came on his face. "Right, of course," he managed to say, smile still on his face. "Sorry, must have been sleep muddled. Went to bed surprisingly late last night. But no worries, I'm up. Just give me a minute; I'll be ready to go real soon."

Raven thought to herself, and then nodded. "If you say so, but I'm holding you to that." She lowered herself down to the floor and departed from Beast Boy's room.

For a brief moment, Beast Boy remained in his bed, both stunned and overjoyed at what had just happened. "Huh," he thought to himself. "It seems we'll still be going to the zoo together after all." He nodded his head. "I guess last night hasn't entirely screwed things up as much as I thought." His smile faded and he briefly had a noticeably unhappy look on his face. Then he closed his eyes and shook his head side to side to clear his head of these unworthy negative thoughts.

"No," he growled to himself in his mind. "I am not going to devote any thought to that now. Later today, maybe I will. But not before Raven and I take care of our little zoo trip, and _especially_ not _during_ said trip." Steeling himself up and pushing the more negative information on his mind from the previous night as far into the back of his mind as he possibly could, Beast Boy got out of his bed, stretched and scratched himself a couple times, and likewise made the preparations he deemed necessary. Then he left his bedroom. "Best not keep Raven waiting," he whispered to himself. "Today's a big day."

. . . . .

At 7:50, the chromatically challenged duo was sitting nearby a tree at an edge of the parking lot for the Jump City Zoo. As of that moment, Beast Boy was actually in somewhat pretty good spirits. By sheer luck, he and Raven had managed to take part in the entirety of the picnic breakfast Robin had allowed to be set up for them in absolute peace and quiet (save for the occasional bird or some other animal). The food that had been packed had fit both of their tastes. And even better, they'd managed to finish to the point that they'd now arrived at the zoo with time to spare. Beast Boy sighed in content, and leaned up against the tree. "Perhaps today won't be so bad after all."

Raven, meanwhile, discreetly kept her eye on the green shapeshifter. Much like Beast Boy, she hoped very much that today would unfold somewhat happily and was looking forward to their time at the zoo in her own way. But at the same time, she also couldn't help but feel as if there was something off. Throughout the entirety of the morning so far, she'd noticed that Beast Boy's emotional feedback had somehow reverted back to the healthy state of guard that had been basically his default emotional feedback level for the entire time she'd ever known him up until that one fateful day earlier this week. Granted, she wasn't worried about him reaching the dangerous level he'd been at before said incident. But even so, after having managed to relatively get used to him giving off emotional feedback at beacon level strength, she had to admit that she actually quite missed that beacon of emotion, and was very concerned and worried as to what may have happened to cause the unexpected change back to what she'd originally been used to detecting from him.

After a while, the two friends heard noises coming from the entrance to the zoo, and they turned around in time to see a man unlocking the gates while several other people moved around as if getting into position somewhere for whatever job they had at the place. Among these people, were a couple of people entering the areas where tickets were sold and admissions were granted.

The two friends opened their communicators and checked the time. It was 7:58 am. "I guess now's probably a good time to head on over," said Beast Boy.

Raven nodded, and the chromatically challenged duo slipped away their communicators. "Right then," said Raven. "Here goes nothing." She turned her head to look at Beast Boy, a small smile on her face. "And for what it's worth, I'm actually looking forward to this little outing. Through and through, you truly are a great friend." The sorceress turned her head and started walking off towards the gate.

Beast Boy, for about a minute, remained standing by the tree, a half happy and half regretful look on his face. "More than you know Rae," he whispered to himself. "More than you know." He started walking off in the same direction as Raven, making it to her side just in time to avoid her noticing that he'd been at all hanging back.

. . . . .

By 8:15, the chromatically challenged duo had already managed to gain their admission, enter the zoo, and proceed from the entrance pavilion all the way to the first enclosure on the map, which they were currently even now in the midst of viewing in the relative peace and quiet that came with they're currently being the only guests. The animals on display in this particular exhibit were Komodo dragons; and at the moment, the lizards were currently either lying around on their bellies or slowly crawling off to scout around the enclosure.

"Don't let their appearance and currently docile behavior fool you," said Beast Boy as he continued to intently watch the magnificent reptiles. "They may not look much, and they may not have any of the commonly known abilities of their namesake animal, but they're not entirely unworthy of being called dragons." He pointed at one particularly large male that had opened its mouth and started extending its tongue into the air. "With the bacteria they've got in their bites, they most certainly don't need fire breath to take down their prey in the wild."

Raven nodded her head, genuinely interested for once in listening to what the changeling had to say about his animal knowledge. And while she thought about it, considering her unpleasant history with an actual dragon, she was quite happy to know how very little, if any, similarities these lizards had with their namesake. "And how are these bacteria any different from the kind in your room?"

Beast Boy chuckled slightly, clearly understanding that this time Raven was, surprisingly enough, actually joking, but also still understandably miffed at the comment in question. "Well with these guys, all that needs to be done is for them to give their intended victim a single bite, and that poor animal is _doomed_. Just one bite contains enough bacteria to cause virtually any animal that gets bitten by these guys to be dead by the end of the day. And not only is there nothing that can save the victim, but the Komodo dragon even goes so far as to patiently follow the animal just about anywhere it goes so that it will be right there waiting when its victim inevitably succumbs to the bacteria and drops dead; at which point, the lizard is more than happy to dig in."

Raven actually gulped, and turned her head back to the Komodo dragons, noticing with a slight tinge of worry that the large male that had opened its mouth and extended its tongue earlier was now seemingly looking right at her with a look that would have translated on any human's face to 'Are you scared of me _now_?'

"I see," Raven admitted. "In that case, good thing they can't bite me from here." She shook her head side to side, shuddering slightly. "I have to admit, from the description you just gave, I'm not really sure if I'm all that willing to try my natural demonic resilience to poison on a bite from one of these things."

"Totally know the feeling," Beast Boy agreed. He took one more brief look at the massive lizards. "Moving on?"

Raven thought to herself, and then nodded. "What's next?"

Beast Boy looked at the map, and then pointed off to his and Raven's right, straight towards none other than the lion enclosure. "To the court of the King," said Beast Boy. "The court of the king."

. . . . .

At 9:30 am, the chromatically challenged duo had made good progress through the zoo. In fact, they were currently at their 9th enclosure; the wolves. At the current moment, the entirety of the pack was gathered around the center of the enclosure, a couple of them having even howled in greeting at other members.

Beast Boy chuckled. "Man, they act so much like dogs sometimes," he commented after watching one of the wolves yawning. "Makes me forget every now and then how much more dangerous they can be."

Raven nodded her head. "I can imagine."

Beast Boy chuckled again, and directed his attention to the wolves once more. "I've always more than a fair share of intrigue in wolves. They've got what has to be among the strongest social dynamics when it comes to nonhuman animals."

Raven looked intently at the gathered beasts. "I can see what you mean."

"I know right? They even howl together; granted, except for when they mourn. Then they howl alone."

"Yes they do," Raven admitted. She looked up at the sun. "You know, now that you mention social work, I'm really starting to wonder what everyone else is up to."

Beast Boy turned his head to face the direction Raven was looking. "Whatever it is," said the changeling, "I'm sure they're all having plenty of fun." He looked directly at Raven. "Want to stay at this area a little longer, or are you ready to move elsewhere?"

Raven thought to herself, and then looked back at Beast Boy. "What's next on the map?"

. . . . .

Meanwhile, back at the tower, Bushido was standing in the common room, looking almost dumbfounded at how very empty the tower seemed to be. At the current moment, the only Titans present at the tower were himself, Kilowatt, and the three kids with the giant teddy bear. Everybody else, on the other hand, was out and about; and while happy that his friends were likely enjoying themselves, he was really not entirely certain as to whether or not he was entirely ok with having such limited company.

The teenage samurai warrior sighed, walked over to the sofa, and took a seat. "Why did Thunder and Lightning have to stay behind?" he asked himself. "They'd have some idea of something for me to do with them out in the city so that I wouldn't have to risk boredom here in the tower on my own."

Then Bushido thought to himself. "Well ok, I'm not _entirely_ on my own. I've still got some of my direct teammates with me." Then he frowned as he thought of another little detail. "Then again . . ."

"Hey there."

Bushido turned his head, and saw none other than Kilowatt standing near the now open doors of the common room. At the sight of the gray sweatpants and greenish hoodie that the blue skinned and pink haired electrokinetic was wearing, the leader of Titans South raised his eyebrow. The fact that his teammate was dressed in his current outfit, let alone any clothing at all apart from his virtually undergarment level outfit that he was always in during either times of battle or peace time at home, meant that the electrokinetic planned to go out into the city on non-combat related business. "Where are you going?"

Kilowatt smiled, and gestured down the hallway to his left. "Out on the town. Raven's entrusted me with babysitter duty for Melvin, Timmy, and Teether today." He folded his sleeve covered arms across his chest. "She's allowed them to have time to get to know me better, and they already view me as an honorary uncle. And so, to show them how truly honored and worthy I am of the title, I've decided to spend the rest of this morning playing with them somewhere at the park, then drop by Chuck E. Cheese's in time for lunch and spend virtually the rest of the day there before we come back here to the tower."

"Oh really?" asked Bushido.

"Yep," Kilowatt confirmed. "And believe it or not, the kids are actually really looking forward to spending time with their dear honorary uncle Kilo today. In fact, they're right outside the front door to the tower right now as we speak. And considering how especially excited Timmy and Teether are, I'd best get out there and join them within the near future. Melvin's usually more confident with having a teen or adult around to help keep her brothers in line and Bobby strongly prefers to not have to get involved in disciplinary measures."

"I see," said Bushido. He looked over at the windows of the common room, and then sighed. "Do you really have to go?"

Kilowatt chuckled. "Don't worry pal," said the electrokinetic. "You shouldn't have anything to worry about. You're the leader of Titans South, and you're pretty darned smart; I'm sure you can think of something or other to keep you entertained while I'm out entertaining the kids and everyone else is getting all lovey dovey. Heck, you've faced down Lord knows how many of the freaky henchmen of that mean old Tengu fellow you keep talking about. I'm sure it shouldn't be too hard for you to conquer such a simple enemy as common garden boredom."

Bushido sighed. "It's not that simple Kilowatt." Then he narrowed his eyes into a glare. "And for the record, I still don't like it when you joke about Tengu like that. You know how disrespectful I feel it to be towards my mom."

"Look man," said Kilowatt. "I get it, Tengu really hit you where it hurt; and believe me, I don't mean any disrespect when I talk about him, I never do." He walked up to his leader and placed his hands on the teenage samurai's shoulders. "But really, just let yourself loose a little today. Trust me, everything will be fine. And besides, I'm sure your mother wouldn't want you to live your entire life without having ever had any fun and enjoyment in your life throughout all your hard work, don't you think?"

Bushido sighed again, and then nodded, but this time with a small smile on his face. "If you say so."

"That's good to hear."

The sound of a crashing noise from outside the tower caused the two teen boys to turn their heads towards the windows.

"What's taking him so long!?" yelled a frantic boyish sounding voice from outside near the bottom of the tower. "He promised he'd be out by now!"

"Calm down Timmy," yelled another, more girly, voice. "Uncle Kilowatt will be here soon to take care of us, and besides, you're scaring Teether."

"I gotta go," said Kilowatt. He turned around and ran out of the common room to hurry to the elevator leading outside. "The kids are gonna blow if I don't get out there soon. I'll talk to you later! And remember, loosen up! Have fun!"

"I'll try," Bushido managed to say before Kilowatt zipped off down the hallway and out of earshot. After about 5 minutes or so, Bushido sighed, turned his head to face the windows once more, and hung his head. "Easier said than done." He looked back at the windows, then at the clock, and then at the windows again. "Kami," he thought to himself. "Why is it so hard for me to put aside training and my search for Tengu in favor of having fun? How do my teammates do it?"

He directed a glare towards the common room doors. "Whatever everybody else is up to, they're almost certainly having an easier time at having fun and avoiding boredom then I am." Then he thought to himself. "Well for one, I certainly won't have any easier a time at having fun if I keep myself all keyed up like this." He got up from the sofa and departed from the common room, making his way down to where the gym was located. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to start the day with what I know. Who knows, maybe a bit of training will help me blow off some steam and leave me in a better state of mind for thinking of more fun-type activities to take part in." And that, he was quite certain, would beat moping around in boredom on the sofa and thinking grudgingly at what sort of fun activities all his teammates, both direct and otherwise, were already up to that were very likely allowing them to have achieved a state of fun many miles ahead of him.

. . . . .

Red Star was not feeling entirely all that comfortable at the current moment. Granted, at first things had seemed perfectly fine the way he saw it. Soon after waking up, having breakfast, and departing from the local tower, he, Pantha, and Wildebeest had gone off into the city, seemingly to head to someplace that would be a good location for all three of them to hang out together. But then, much to Red Star's surprise, they had ended up dropping off Wildebeest at a local preschool, much to the apparent great joy of all the students, before then heading over to a local Mexican themed bar an impressive number of city blocks away from the preschool. And it was this very bar that Red Star and Pantha were currently still sitting at.

Pantha, much to Red Star's discomfort, seemed to be quite enjoying herself and appeared to fit in disturbingly well among all the other patrons. He, however, very clearly was not entirely comfortable, as he A: hadn't even touched the drink that Pantha had ordered for him, and B: kept nervously looking around the bar and at the numerous intimidating and almost thug looking patrons that were present in the bar alongside them, a glaringly obvious look of intimidation on his face. "This is not what I was expecting for us to take part in on a day like this," he thought to himself.

He felt someone smack him on the back of his head. "Come on!" he heard Pantha yell. "Don't be such a killjoy! Enjoy yourself!"

Red Star sighed, and turned his head to direct an annoyed glare at Pantha, his solid green eyes clearly showing that he was not amused. "Do you not know what kind of establishment we are in?"

"With the number of visits I've made to this place as of today, I'd be surprised not to."

Red Star groaned. "Perhaps you misunderstand," said the aggrieved former soldier. He turned around to completely face the heavily built female wrestler, gesturing towards the area to his left, and her right. "We are in a bar!"

"So we are," said Pantha, a small smirk of amusement on her masked face. "What's the problem with that?"

Red Star face palmed, groaning irritably at Pantha's continued apparent casual dismissal of the location they were in. "We. Are. In. A. Bar," the Russian boy practically growled.

"So?" Pantha asked.

"So?" Red Star asked in an incredulous tone. "What do you mean 'so'?! This is a bar!"

Pantha's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "I think I got that the first time you said that."

"I'm serious!" Red Star gestured to the entire area around them. "Do you not know how dangerous places like these can be for people our age?"

"You worry too much," said Pantha. "She turned around so that she had her entire body facing Red Star just like he was completely facing her, flexing her muscular arms in a stereotypical strong man position. "We can handle ourselves perfectly fine, and besides," she gestured around at all the other patrons. "These people know me well. They know not to hurt me too badly, and they know to extend that same courtesy to you. As they've made clear to me in the past, and especially before I arranged for us to hang out here, a friend of mine is a friend of theirs. You've got nothing to worry about."

"Says the girl who's already emptied her glass five times!" Red Star shook his head side to side. "We're both still 20! I don't know what the legal age was down in Mexico, but here in America, the law clearly says you have to be 21 in order to legally drink alcohol!"

Pantha rolled her eyes, glared towards her empty bottle, and then looked back at Red Star with a deadpan look on her face before pointing at his still full first glass. "Relax," said Pantha. She picked up his glass. "It's sparkling cider. Both our drink orders are sparkling cider. There's not a single drop of alcohol present in our drinks."

Red Star raised his eyebrow, still not entirely convinced.

Pantha sighed, and handed the glass over to him. "Come on," she growled. "Just at least take a sip. I promise, it's exactly what I say it is."

Red Star glared at her for a little while longer; then he sighed, and took his glass. After a deep breath, he took a sip. He let it stay in his mouth for a minute or two, and then let it slide down his throat. His eyes opened. "Hmm," he said, an intrigued look on his face. "It _is_ sparkling cider."

"Told you," said Pantha.

Red Star chuckled sheepishly. "So you did." He proceeded to drink the entire rest of the glass. "I guess I can abide a visit to this place somewhat under the current conditions."

"Good," said Pantha, a small smirk now on her face as she picked up a conveniently located wrench that had been lying on the floor right behind her chair. "Because now the real fun starts."

Red Star's eyes widened in a shocked manner upon hearing this, but then they narrowed in clear nervousness. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

Pantha chuckled, a devious smirk still on her face, and then lifted up the wrench. Seconds later, much to Red Star's shock and horror, she slammed one end of the wrench in her hand on the back of the right hand of the man sitting to her left. The man hissed, and grasped onto his hand, growling and snarling from the pain.

Red Star continued gaping incredulously at the clearly amused looking Pantha. "Why'd you do that?" he asked.

"You'd better get ready," said Pantha, seemingly ignoring the unnerved Russian boy's question as she casually handed the wrench over to Red Star, who almost numbly took it in his grasp. "Things are about to get rough." Pantha got up from her chair, turned around, and loudly yelled, "Alright boys! It's party time!"

Virtually every single one of the other patrons screamed and whooped in joy and excitement as they all started to get up from their seats. The only patrons who didn't get up from their seats were the still confused Red Star and the one man whose hand had gotten smashed by Pantha's wrench. But by that point, the pain had numbed down just enough for the man in question to let go of the hand in question, and snarl angrily at it as if cursing both it _and_ the person who'd smacked it.

Red Star, still completely clueless as to what was going on in spite of how virtually everyone but himself and the one man whose hand had been smacked had stood up from their seats and now seemed to be moving around and gleefully positioning themselves as if preparing for a fight, nervously yelled. "Pantha, what's going on?"

Unfortunately, the sound of Red Star's voice attracted the attention of the unlucky man with the smashed hand, and he turned his head in the former soldier's direction. Upon sight of the boy, or more specifically what was in his hands, the man's eyes narrowed, and he snarled angrily in a very disturbingly animalistic fashion.

The sound of the snarling caused Red Star to direct his attention towards the man. At first he remained confused at the sight of the angry looking African American man with a quite injured hand glaring and snarling at him. Then he noticed the man direct his eyes downward towards his own hands, and he instinctively looked towards them himself. At the sight that greeted him, Red Star's heart plummeted, and his eyes opened wide. He'd completely forgotten that the very wrench that Pantha had smacked this man's hand with was now in his own hands.

Gulping mentally, Red Star nervously looked up to face the man once more, only to see that the man's eyes had narrowed even further, and he now seemed _very_ much angrier than before. Without warning, the man clenched his hands as if tensing up for a fight.

Red Star grimaced, and braced himself for impact. "Oh Hell," he managed to say, not even bothering to lift or drop the wrench. The man whose hand Pantha had smashed screamed in rage, drew back his left fist, and throttled Red Star in the face with a powerful upper cut. And just like that, within seconds, the entire bar erupted into a vicious brawl.

. . . . .

Kole stared intently at the skeletal apatosaurus that stood before her. At the moment, she, Gnark, and Jericho were at the Jump City Museum of Natural History; in the Hall of Prehistoric Wildlife to be exact. Admittedly, she was hardly the type one would expect to take such vast interest in a dinosaur display considering how long she'd lived in a subterranean world very heavily populated with them, plus multiple other creatures long lost to prehistory for several years or so of her life. But even in spite of this, she couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder at the ancient beasts that the museum had on posthumous display.

It wasn't until she felt a tap on her shoulder and heard an almost annoyed sounding 'Gnark' come from behind her that Kole even realized that she'd spaced out. Knocked back down to Earth, she turned her head to Gnark, who pointed over towards Jericho. Mentally gulping, the girl turned her head to face Jericho. Clearly, if the look on Gnark's face combined with his behavior were any indication, the deaf boy had been attempting to talk to her about something, and she hadn't been paying attention. And the confused look on his face only strengthened this theory.

"Sorry," Kole said, Gnark simultaneously moving his fingers to speak the same word in sign language. "Got distracted. Did you say something?"

Jericho nodded his head, and then patiently signed, "You seem to be quite intrigued in the display."

Kole let out a somewhat nervous half chuckle, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Yeah," she said, with Gnark signing. "Sorry about that." She turned around and gestured at the skeletons and stuffed corpses on display of the various prehistoric animals within the room. "I'm just so used to seeing these animals alive now," she explained. "I'd completely forgotten what it's like to live in a world where they're all dead and on display in museums."

Jericho made careful note of what Gnark signed, and nodded in agreement. "Understandable," he signed. "I imagine there are quite a few scientists who'd make a fortune off of the kind of information you'd probably be able to tell them about these ancient animals."

Kole chuckled. "Yeah well," she spoke, with Gnark signing once more. "They're just gonna have to wait. And even so, they certainly haven't asked me any questions yet."

Jericho smiled, and nodded his head.

"And now that I think about it," she said, this time just as much to Gnark as to Jericho as she pointed over at a t-rex skeleton located further into the room. "I can certainly admit, it certainly is nice to for once be in the presence of a t-rex, not to mention all the other carnivores on display here, without having to worry about them trying to eat us."

The two boys smiled in agreement, and Gnark even nodded his head. He remembered all too well how many times he and Kole had been forced to either fight off a pack of smaller creatures such raptors or run away or sneak around a larger animal such as a T-rex.

Kole then directed a sentimental look up towards the skeletal pteranodon hanging from the ceiling. "Still," she then said with Gnark signing as best as he could, "it's a pity that the majority of them are skeletons. They always look so much more impressive when they have more than just their bones to look at." Then she took note of the formidable looking stuffed woolly mammoth, rather comically adorable looking stuffed megatherium, and the savage looking roaring stuffed smilodon on display alongside all the skeletal ancient beasts, and a small smile came back to her face. "Then again," she admitted. "At least the ice age critters they've got on display still have skin on them. Look pretty impressive that way. Heck, I think Gnark and I once saw a saber tooth that looked just like the one they've got here back at our base down below."

Gnark nodded in agreement. Jericho meanwhile, simply smiled. "It's family had good genetics," he signed.

Kole chuckled, and she rolled her eyes playfully. Then she looked back at the t-rex skeleton. "You know Jericho," she began. "There's actually this really cool story about an encounter Gnark and I had with a t-rex back home that I really think I ought to tell you." Jericho was instantly intrigued upon catching the signing of this phrase from Gnark. Kole giggled at her boyfriend's reaction. "Come on," she said and signed. "Come on over, and I'll tell you about it right at the skeleton." She grabbed Jericho by the hand and happily dragged him over, the boy willingly letting himself go along with his pinkette girlfriend. Gnark, meanwhile, briefly stayed standing where he was by the apatosaurus skeleton, directing a stern and careful look towards the couple. Then, with a grunt, he made his way over to catch up with the young couple.

. . . . .

"Good grief," Argent groaned, swatting her hands in the air as she tried to smack away all the gnats that had seemed to be quite taken with swarming around her head while also working equally hard to somehow avoid getting annoyed by all the branches and other plant elements that kept seemingly popping up out of nowhere. "I thought you said this would be an easy walk!"

Hotspot, currently in his non-flaming civilian form, calmly continued making his way through the forest path directly in front of his friend. "Technically," he explained, "I said it would be relatively pleasant. Subtle difference."

Argent groaned, and swatted around at another small group of gnats. "Good God man," Argent hissed. "Why do you have to do this to me? Couldn't we have just flown?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Hotspot chuckled. "This is Valentine's Day! Believe me, the way we're doing it right now, it will be way more romantic."

"Well it certainly ain't feeling that way right now."

"Oh you'll be eating those words right up later," Hotspot responded. He turned his head and extended his hand just long enough to help Argent clamber over a small partially fallen tree. "Don't worry," he said in an effort to reassure her. "It will be over soon."

Argent hopped off the tree and came to a landing right next to her admittedly rather hot headed, in more ways than one, boyfriend, and rolled her eyes. "Whatever it is you've got planned for me right now," Argent began. "It better make up for this piss pool of a walk you just put me through."

"Oh it will," Hotspot replied nonchalantly.

"I mean it Isiah," Argent hissed. "This better be worth it, or you'll be getting silent treatment, and a couch for a bed, for the rest of this month."

"Trust me Toni," Hotspot replied, seemingly not at all concerned about the threat. "This will be worth every step, every thorn, and every bug."

Argent sighed, slightly feeling hopeful that her boyfriend would turn out to be correct, yet now also considerably annoyed at his current apparent overconfidence in his own opinion. "Hothead," she grumbled under her breath. Resigning herself to whatever fate awaited her, she continued following Hotspot down the forest trail he was leading her down.

After what felt like an agonizingly long time to the poor girl, she finally felt reason to let out a sigh of relief when she heard Hotspot yell, "We're almost there! Just another couple feet or so!"

Argent let out a low chuckle. "If you say so," she muttered.

Sure enough, minutes later, Argent walked right through a small group of bushes and found herself in a surprisingly sizeable clearing. However, it wasn't so much the clearing itself that caused her to come to a stop and widen her eyes in shock, but rather the fact that there appeared to be an almost boy scout level campsite set up within the clearing complete with a tent and a fire pit. As she continued to look around the area, she felt herself feeling happier and happier as she realized the full gravity of what Hotspot had done, and a happy smile came on her face.

"Had a feeling you'd be impressed."

Argent looked to her left and saw Hotspot standing nearby one large tree, his arms folded across his chest and a half smug half excited smile on his face. Argent directed a small smirk of her own towards the pyrokinetic, and folded her arms across her chest. "Color me impressed hotshot," said the red and black haired girl. "You set up a little campout for us to take in honor of the ones we used to take every summer. Nice save."

"Damn right," said Hotspot. He chuckled. "And you've certainly got it correct about this being in honor of all those other trips from back then." He pointed towards an area to Argent's right. "I even allowed Cody to be with us in spirit."

Argent turned her head to look in the direction her boyfriend was pointing, and felt her heart warming up at the sight of what appeared to be a scarecrow-like figure made almost entirely out of sticks and similar forest material standing tall at the end opposite the one Hotspot was positioned at. However, it wasn't so much the scarecrow itself that was currently making Argent feel so happy about its presence. Rather, it was the fact that it appeared to have been very painstakingly decorated to resemble a somewhat passable life-size model of their old friend Cody Driscoll. To be exact, it was wearing a surprisingly well fitting t-shirt that looked exactly like the kind of shirts that Cody typically liked to wear, had a boy-style golden blonde wig across its head, and even had a fake face drawn on the head with what appeared to be a mixture of chalk and charcoal. Argent shook her head, now feeling very sentimental. "It's been so long," she thought to herself.

"Well then," said Hotspot. "Now that we're here, what do you want to do?"

Argent looked back at Hotspot, her eyebrow raised. "You're asking _me_ what I want to do?" she asked. "I do believe tradition demands for you, the boy, to have it all planned out."

"Indeed," Hotspot admitted. "But right now, considering your unpleasant little experience earlier with the trip we took to get to this place, I have a feeling that you deserve a chance at deciding on something we could do that won't involve very much, if any trekking through the woods. After all, from how much you complained, you deserve a break from that right now."

Argent smiled, both happy and touched that her boyfriend was now being so thoughtful and caring. She thought to herself. Then she noticed what looked very much like a soccer ball lying around nearby the tent, and her smile widened. She looked over at Hotspot. "I know just what to do."

. . . . .

"Is this seriously the best you could come up with?"

"Trust me Jennifer, I've got it covered. You'll totally love what I've got planned for today."

"That's what you've kept telling me; and yet here we are at the mall. Why?"

Kid Flash stopped walking, took a deep breath, exhaled, and then calmly turned to face Jinx. At the moment, just as Jinx had made clear, the two of them were at the Jump City Shopping Mall. And for the sake of allowing Jinx to feel comfortable with being present in the city, not only was Jinx now wearing her holo-ring, but they were both in civilian attire as opposed to their usual superhero outfits.

"Jenn," said Kid Flash. "Please just trust me on this. I know what I'm doing here." He let a small grin come on his face. "Besides," he continued. "Have I ever let you down when it really mattered?"

Jinx thought to herself, and then sighed. "I'd like to think not."

"Good, because to my knowledge, I haven't," said Kid Flash. He turned around, with only his head now oriented in Jinx's direction. "Now come on," he said politely. "Just keep on following along behind me. It will be perfectly worth your while."

Jinx sighed. "If you say so Wally." She followed along behind him for another couple minutes or so. Then, right as Jinx was starting to get quite tempted to ask him just where they were going, she noticed a very attention grabbing detail a good couple yards ahead of them on the floor they were currently on, and her eyes widened in shock and moderate horror. She looked over at Kid Flash and saw how very briskly he was now walking towards the attraction in question, and her fears were confirmed. Kid Flash had done it again. He had decided to try to take Jinx to another magic show.

Jinx hurriedly ran up to Kid Flash and grabbed him by the shoulder, quite forcefully causing him to jerk to a stop. Kid Flash had literally just turned his head to face Jinx before the disguised probability manipulator pointed her finger towards the area where the magic show was to take place and whispered incredulously, "Are you out of your mind? Have you _no_ memory at all of what happened the last time? Or better yet, every magic show we've ever attended together period?"

"Jennifer," said Kid Flash, "contrary to what you may think, I am not _that_ stupid. I remember perfectly well what has happened all the other times we've gone to one of these shows."

"Then why the Hell are you trying to have us attend another one?" Jinx hissed, her disguised dark eyes narrowed in incredulity and borderline anger that very creepily contrasted with her illusionary pale blonde hair. "You know that I hate it when you behave the way you do while we're watching them!"

"This time will be different," said Kid Flash.

"You said that the last six times," Jinx countered. "And look how those turned out."

Kid Flash sighed. "Look Jenn," he said. "I mean it. I won't heckle myself out this time."

Jinx crossed her arms across her chest, a glare on her face. "Every time you say that, you do."

Kid Flash groaned, pinched at his hair, and sighed. "I'll rephrase; this time, just for you, as a special Valentine's Day gift, I'll try my absolute hardest, harder than I've ever before tried, to keep my mouth shut and grin and bear my way through watching the entire show with you without a single heckle or likewise giving myself reason to be kicked out. I swear it."

Jinx sighed, and shook her head side to side. "You know I don't like it when you make that kind of a promise Wally."

"Jenn please," said Kid Flash. "Just one more try ok? And if things head south this time, I promise you, I'll do whatever necessary to avoid setting foot towards anymore magic shows, even if you have to zap me away from them. Ok? Just this one more time?"

Jinx thought to herself, tensed up as if very tempted to say no, and then hung her head and sighed. "One more chance," she said. "That is all I'm giving."

"Thank you," said Kid Flash.

"But I'm warning you," said Jinx. "You'd better keep your word. If this ends the way all the other attempts have, you'll be sorry; and I do mean sorry."

"That's perfectly fine," said Kid Flash. "Really it is."

"It better be," said Jinx.

"Hey," said Kid Flash as he instinctively placed his hands on his girlfriend's shoulders. "Whatever happens, regardless of whether we both make it through the show together or not, I love you. That's all that matters right?"

Jinx thought to herself, and then slowly nodded, a small smile on her face. "I love you to Wally."

Kid Flash smiled, and he repositioned himself so that we standing next to Jinx with his arm around her shoulders. "That's good to hear." His smile widened, and his blue eyes brightened in happiness. "Now come on, let's get over there. The show's in another half hour, and I want to make sure we get good seats before the rest of the audience shows up." And with that, the Titans' very first couple took the last few steps needed to reach the area where the magic show would be taking place, the speedster eagerly awaiting the spectacle to come, whereas the probability manipulator, on the other hand, was feeling both excited and hopeful, as well as more than a little nervous.

. . . . .

"Mas!" Bumblebee yelled as she flew over the area of the park that she, Herald, and the twins had traveled to. "Menos! Where are you!?"

The group had arrived at the park a good hour or so ago, but then, Bumblebee and Herald had gotten distracted for just a couple minutes looking in the direction of an area where Bumblebee could have sworn she'd heard Cyborg's laughing, and they'd looked away in time to find that Mas and Menos had somehow managed to pull a Houdini and were now gone! Thus she and Herald were now wandering around the park a good distance away from the area they were supposed to be at within the next half hour trying to find the hyperactive twin speedsters. "God darn it you little termites! If I miss this concert because of you, I swear . . ."

"Found them!"

Bumblebee halted in midair and looked down in time to see Herald holding the two boys by the back collars of their shirts. The two boys in question both had a mixture between a pout and a frown on their faces while the Herald himself had a wide smile on his face. "Caught these two little buggers asking every random citizen they could find if they'd seen Robin and Starfire anywhere. It would appear these two are still hoping to either steal a moment or two with Starfire from Robin today, or at least be able to spy on them during their date today."

Bumblebee face palmed, groaning in irritation. "Seriously?" she thought to herself. "What is wrong with you two?" She lowered herself down to the ground directly in front of the three boys. She took a deep breath, exhaled, and then glared at the two twins. She pointed at them. "Do not do that again. Understand?"

Mas and Menos gulped, looked each other in the eyes, and then looked back at Bumblebee, nodding their heads up and down to indicate that they understood.

"Good," said Bumblebee. She yanked Mas out of the Herald's grip and slung him over her shoulder. "Now, we are _going_ to attend that concert today. And I don't care how much you two want to cash in on Robin's time with Star today, but you are going to stay here with us and leave our power couple alone."

"Pero el jefe!" the two twins shouted in unison.

"I mean it!"

Bumblebee stopped, turned around, and placed Mas on the ground on his feet. Herald, confused, came to a stop as well. Then Bumblebee looked up at him and gestured with her head to indicate for him to put Menos down. Her boyfriend did so, and thus Bumblebee found herself facing both of the two boys. "Look," said Bumblebee. "I get it, you're still unhealthily precociously in love with Starfire, but right now, unless by some miracle Robin finds a way to stay here with us past the end of this year, this could be both the first _and_ the last Valentine's Day the two of them get to have a happy time together as an official couple as befits this holiday. And even without that in mind, if anyone deserves to have a proper happy Valentine's Day right now after 5 damn years straight of sexual tension, it's them. Now what's more important to you two brats? Starfire and Robin's happiness? Or your selfish and inconsiderate desires?"

For a brief moment, Mas and Menos just gaped at Bumblebee in shock. Even Herald looked quite surprised at what Bumblebee had just said. Then, as one, the two twins gulped, looked each other in the eyes, and then hung their heads, clearly ashamed of their behavior now that Bumblebee had placed it under such a scathingly harsh light.

"La primera opcion," said Mas.

"Lo sentimos," said Menos.

Bumblebee sighed in relief. "Good." She placed her hands on their shoulders. "Now come on, let's go get our seats to watch the concert that we'll be going on within the next hour. Won't that be fun?"

Mas and Menos smiled, for they too were just as big of a pair of fans of the band performing as Bumblebee and Herald were after all the time the couple had spent the previous day getting them educated and oriented with the band in question in preparation for the concert they were now about to watch.

"Good," said Bumblebee. She clasped her hands together. "Now come on! Let's get moving! We can't let all the other bozos among the audience today steal all the good seats!"

"You got that right," said Herald. He bolted right past his girlfriend and the two twins as he started running off in the direction of the concert's location. "Race you!"

Bumblebee hesitated for a full three seconds, purely out of shock. Then she snapped out of her daze and ran off after her boyfriend, more than a little annoyed. "Oh no you don't!" she yelled as she ran, not flew, after the laughing and in the lead Herald. "You are _not_ running off ahead of me! I already have enough races and challenges with Sparky! And you are _not_ beating me to a concert from _my_ favorite band!"

Meanwhile, Mas and Menos ran along trying desperately trying to keep up with Bumblebee and Herald; all while quite noticeably avoiding locking hands or likewise boosting their speed in an effort to avoid getting into any further trouble. "Eh!" they yelled. "Esperanos!"

. . . . .

Aqualad sat by the changing room building located near the beach parking lot, patiently waiting for Terra to finish her business so that they could enter the beach. Much like the other boys had doubtless felt in regard to their own respective outings today, he was quite looking forward to what he had planned for his day out with Terra today. To be specific, their Valentine's Day date consisted of spending virtually the entire day together at the beach. And this was something that he believed would prove especially romantic for the two of them since, due to the time at which this Valentine's Day was taking place, virtually every civilian in the city would be either at school, work, or likewise preoccupied with other things that didn't involve the beach, thus allowing them to have the entire beach all to themselves. Admittedly, for just about anyone else, such a situation had the potential to prove quite dangerous. Aqualad, however, being who he was, was quite certain that he would more than qualify for taking on the role of a lifeguard in the unlikely event that any trouble came at risk of befalling Terra. Right now, all that needed to happen was for Terra to finish what she was currently up to in the changing rooms, and they could get started on their date.

He looked down at his attire. As usual, he was dressed in his usual blue unitard with some streaks of white combined with black gloves and boots. "It certainly pays to virtually wear your swimsuit 24/7," he thought to himself. He looked back in the direction of the changing rooms building, a small smile now on his face. "But even so, I'm certainly not gonna complain. However long it takes for Terra to get ready, what follows will be more than worth the wait." He looked off in the direction of the wooden walkway that led over the dune area to the beach proper, smile still on his face as the wind blew comfortably in his face. "This is going to be so much fun," he thought to himself.

"I'm ready."

Surprised, Aqualad turned his head, only to find himself briefly unable to coherently think or speak at the sight of Terra. In his eyes, she looked just that stunning in the current moment. She was dressed in a dark red two-piece swimsuit that he had to admit contrasted quite well with his own light blue unitard and also managed to show off her body, yet still maintain a respectable level of modesty for her. She had her hands on her hips, a bright smile that made her entire face as well as her blue eyes glow, and her golden hair was gently blowing in the wind. Terra noticed her boyfriend gawking at her in awe, and chuckled. "Enjoying the view I see."

This comment knocked Aqualad out of his daze, and he chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry," he said. "Didn't mean to stare . . ."

"Relax Garth," said Terra, placing a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. "Trust me, I saw myself in a mirror while wearing this suit right back in the changing room. I'm sure any other guy would have had a somewhat similar reaction to the sight of me like this." She folded her arms across her chest a half mock glare and half playful smirk on her face. "But still, you're lucky that your both my direct teammate and my boyfriend. If I'd caught any guy _but_ you ogling me like that just now, it would have earned him a restraining order."

Aqualad chuckled nervously. "I see."

Terra chuckled and gave her boyfriend a playful slap on the shoulder. "Come on Garth!" she yelled good naturedly. "Lighten up! You know I'm just messing with you!" She took a few steps past him, turned her head, and gestured towards the walkway across the dunes. "Come on," said Terra. "Let's get to it. I've really been looking forward to this beach trip, and I know you can't wait to get started on it anymore then I can."

Aqualad chuckled, but this time in a clearly not at all nervous tone. "You got that right Tara." He got up from his sitting position, walked right up to Terra's side, and extended his hand towards her. Terra blushed at hearing Aqualad refer to her by the endearingly mispronounced form of her civilian name that he'd taken to referring to her by every now and then (after borrowing said behavior from her own brother no less), grabbed onto his hand, and the couple walked down the walkway, still hand in hand and with happy smiles still on their faces.

As they reached the halfway point of the walkway, Terra sighed in content. "It's so beautiful out here right now. I never thought that I'd ever casually visit a beach at this time of the year."

"That's not a problem is it?" Aqualad asked.

Terra chuckled good naturedly. "Not at all." She turned her head, directing her smiling face at Aqualad. "I'm actually quite glad to be visiting the beach right now; especially since it's with you."

Aqualad chuckled. "Good answer."

Terra giggled, shook her head side to side in content, and turned her head to face ahead once more. Aqualad did the same. They reached the end of the walkway, descended down the steps to the beach proper, and then set up a towel and umbrella before Aqualad sat under the umbrella and Terra lay down on the towel on her belly. For the next few minutes, they remained this way, silently watching the ocean together in companionable silence.

"Garth," said Terra.

Aqualad looked over at his girlfriend. "Yes?"

"Thank you," Terra replied. "For this; for everything really." She turned her head towards him, smiling still. "You're the best."

"Don't mention it," Aqualad responded in good humor. He looked back at the water. "I still remember seeing you again for the first time following your being released from petrification right here at this beach last summer."

Terra chuckled. "I'd be surprised if you didn't." She looked back at the ocean. "Boy if all the other girls back at Murakami could see me now; they'd be so jealous."

"Would they now?"

"You bet," said Terra. "You wouldn't believe how many girls there are at Murakami High who envy Lois Lane and Sapphire Stagg and wish that they could have a relationship with some bigshot hero like they do. But of course, the local heroes here aren't really going to look there way, and all the other heroes are likewise out of reach; so the closest thing they could hope for was to at least fawn over local civilian heart throbs like Jackson Carver. And even then, my pal Stephanie Troy was the only one among them who actually genuinely loved Jackson as opposed to being in admiration of the romantic ideal he represented or just superficially attracted to him for his body or what not."

Terra looked back at Aqualad. "And from what I've managed to learn over the course of our visits here following my officially joining Titans East, all the other girls have been especially crazy and over the top about it all ever since Jackson and Stephanie got together; and those two are still together even now. And with that in mind, just think of how green with envy they'd be of _me_ if they knew that I was now the girlfriend of such a fresh bit of saltwater taffy as you."

Aqualad chuckled, and shook his head side to side. "Come on," he said. "I'm not _that_ attractive."

"Like Hell you aren't," said Terra playfully. "Honestly Garth, how you can possibly not realize how much of a lady killer you are? There are like _so_ many girls who've gawked, ogled, and likewise stared at you and liked what they saw! Heck, from what I've heard, even Starfire and Raven once had a brief crush on you!"

"They did?" Aqualad asked.

"Yep," said Terra. She giggled. "You seriously didn't notice all that?"

Aqualad shook his head, a stunned speechless look on his face. "Heck no. I mean really, all those other girls have ever done before you came along is just stare at me and look at me funny. How the heck is that supposed to hint at finding someone attractive?"

"Get out," said Terra, an amused look on her face.

"No seriously! The way all those other girls I've actually noticed staring at me have looked, you'd think that I had food on my face or some ugly blemish or something! They most certainly were not looking at me at all the way you and Tula have looked at me!"

Terra giggled, and playfully swept a small spout of sand at the Atlantean. "Geez Garth, you're such a fish out of water!"

Aqualad wiped the sand away from him, and then directed a capricious smirk at the half Markovian. "Oh that can easily be remedied."

Terra raised her eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Gotcha!"

Without warning, and with a surprised squeal from Terra, the Atlantean jumped up from his position, scooped her up in his arms, and bolted off towards the water while carrying the still squealing and giggling Terra in his arms bridal style. "Come on Garth, put me down!" Terra yelled playfully.

"Oh don't be such a killjoy Terra," Aqualad responded back in a playful tone of his own as he continued rushing towards the water. "The fun's only just begun!"

"No!" Terra squealed as Aqualad started to get especially close to the water's edge. "Don't! Stop!"

"Don't stop?" Aqualad asked teasingly. "Alrighty then! As you wish!"

"Agh!" Terra screamed in mock fear. "Not what I meant! Not what I meant! No!"

With a chuckle, Aqualad took one step into the waves, and caused a small spout of water to propel him and Terra airborne towards further out into the somewhat deeper areas of the water. With a playful squeal from Terra and a joyful chuckle from Aqualad, the couple landed in the water with a big splash. And just like that, as Aqualad had said, the fun had indeed just begun.

. . . . .

Speedy was patiently waiting in the outer courtyard of the train station. Much like he'd made perfectly clear to his friends among the other Titans, he indeed did have plans for Valentine's Day this year. And right now, all that needed to happen was for his date to arrive, and said plans could begin right on schedule. He examined his outfit. He had to admit, after a considerable number of years that he'd spent wearing it, he was still finding it slightly difficult mentally to get used to the sight of him wearing any outfit that wasn't his trademark hero uniform. Right now, instead of the reddish orange jumpsuit and yellow boots he'd been wearing virtually every day of his life following his initially getting recruited as Green Arrow's sidekick, he was dressed in dark blue jeans, a Lincoln Green t-shirt with a picture of Robin Hood drawing his bow on the front, and a pair of Nikes running shoes. And even more unsettlingly, from his perspective anyway, he'd even opted to have his mask hidden inside the exact backpack he'd brought with him that contained his costume, thus allowing his natural blue eyes to be exposed clear as day.

He calmly looked around the area, outwardly showing no sign of his reasonably substantial nervousness that now came with being out in public without his mask on after having spent so many years keeping it on his face 24/7. "Everything we'll be fine," he thought to himself, his impassive face showing no outward sign of how nervous he was. "It's been at least 5, maybe 7, years since I was last seen without my uniform or mask on. Nobody saw me change out of my costume. And no one in Jump City has ever seen me as Roy Harper as opposed too Speedy. And as far as I know, none of the enemies of the Arrow family have ever figured out the secret identity of any of its members. I have no reason to worry."

But even in spite of this, he still felt nervous to the point that he thought it a miracle that he wasn't showing some blaringly obvious outward sign of it, let alone any outward sign at all. Then he thought to himself. Admittedly, his natural fear of someone discovering his identity without his mask on wasn't the sole contributing factor to why he felt so nervous right now. In fact, the over half of him was feeling the same level of nervousness for a completely different reason.

He briefly looked in the direction of the doors leading into the train station building, checking to see if the person he was expecting had arrived yet. "It's been so many years now," he thought to himself. Then he looked himself over once again. "God I hope I don't mess this up." And he had very good reason to be nervous about how things would unfold while hanging out with his partner for his planned activities for this day. Surprisingly enough, in spite of how much he'd bragged otherwise, and just how much his own mentor Green Arrow seemed to be valued as prime eye candy by various women both before and after successfully initiating a relationship with Black Canary, he himself wasn't entirely as big of a hit with the ladies as he liked his friends to believe. In fact, he'd only ever successfully dated and courted, let alone been attracted to, one single girl.

He sighed in content, his blue eyes misting over as he remembered the old days that he'd spent with his four first true companions among people his age range before the terrible drought of negativity that had begun to unfold for him not too long after Robin's departure from Gotham City and eventual relocation to Jump City. Granted, he'd certainly never trade the happy days he'd spent alongside his teammates, three of which were among the same group of friends he'd been associated with before the formation of the Teen Titans, for anything. But even so, at times like this, when he really thought hard to himself and let down his walls just enough, it seemed only yesterday when he went on so many great adventures alongside his four first true companions among his age group while their mentors were off on adventures and missions of their own. He sighed in contentment. As happy as he was with his lot in life right now, he'd always hold a special place in his heart for the days in which the only officially recognized group of teen heroes, basically both a predecessor for the Teen Titans and that very team in all but name, had a roster that consisted entirely of himself, Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and most of all . . . he hung his head. "Donna," he thought to himself.

Speedy sighed. "All this time," he thought to himself. "I never thought that I'd still be affected this strongly by all that happened between us." And indeed, even when the whole business had first begun, he'd always been quite surprised and amazed at how strong of an impact it had left on his life. He still remembered the day that he and the other four had first met each other and properly teamed up together all the way at the time when they'd all been just 11-years old. He remembered the many missions they'd undergone, both separately and alongside their respective mentors, and together as a team that could quite simply be considered as the Teen Titans in all but name. But most of all, he remembered now how, in spite of all the odds, and how they'd both been at an age where neither of them, let alone either of their other three young comrades amongst their team's roster, should have even the slightest idea what love truly even was, he had precociously, yet genuinely, managed to fall in love hard with the one girl amongst the roster of the first generation of Titans, Donna Troy; the first, and as far as he knew only, Wonder Girl.

Speedy shook his head side to side, mentally snarling with his eyes closed, trying his absolute hardest to get his mind off of his old flame. "Stop thinking about her darn it," he growled to himself in his mind. "What we had back then is over, and I am going to move on if it's the last darned thing I do!" He looked at his watch. The estimated time of arrival that his partner for today had told him was about 5 minutes or so away. "God I hope she shows up soon," he thought to himself. "At this rate, I'll go crazy thinking thoughts about my being out of costume or Donna Troy without her around to keep me focused on what really matters now."

"Waiting for someone?"

Speedy turned his head to look behind him. "You could say that," he said almost robotically in response before turning his head to look once more at his watch without even really taking a close look at who he'd just talked to. Then he noticeably tensed up. "Wait a minute," he thought to himself. He turned his head to look behind him once more. It took all of 10 seconds for him to recognize the girl standing behind him that had just now spoken to him. Even though her eyes were now somehow a more naturally Vietnamese brown color and was dressed in regular American civilian garments as opposed to the green long sleeved battle kimono and grinning Cheshire Cat style mask she usually wore, he would have easily recognized the smirking teenage Vietnamese girl standing there behind him after having managed to see her unmasked face the previous summer and spent quite a bit of time talking and hanging around with her over the course of the months that had followed the adventure in which he'd gotten to see her unmasked.

The girl chuckled, clearly amused at the stunned look on the ginger haired boy's face. "Weren't expecting me this early now, were you Dreyden?"

Speedy briefly frowned at the girl, then sighed, shook his head side to side, and directed a half miffed and half smug look at her. "Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. It's always hard to tell what to expect when it comes to you; isn't it Mei-Mei?"

Cheshire chuckled, shaking her head side to side in the process. Out of both a strong desire for them both to avoid running too high of a risk of her mysterious cloaked boss figuring out about her treasonous activities she'd been pulling against him since the previous summer as the Titans' double agent, and a pragmatic desire to avoid running the unlikely risk of someone in Jump City miraculously recognizing their actual civilian birth names, the two teens had chosen to go about under fake names. Speedy had chosen to take the name of Dreyden Rosemont, whereas Cheshire had chosen the almost adorably exotic alias of Mei-Mei Sukit. And as had just now been demonstrated, they both clearly wouldn't have too much trouble in consistently avoiding referring to each other by either of their real names.

Cheshire stopped shaking her head and looked directly at Speedy. "So," she said. "I'm here now. What's the plan?" Admittedly, she already had a pretty good idea of what the plan was in regards one half of the matter. One thing that they'd both agreed to for her visit today was that she'd bring fully up to date on what information she now had to offer about her master today. However, there was one other purpose for their meeting in Jump City today that Cheshire was not afraid to admit; at least to herself anyway; that she had no idea what to expect. Granted, she could now feel in hindsight that she probably should have seen the potential for this coming from miles away after her experiences with the archer during the incident with Geo-Force the previous summer. However, it wasn't until New Year's Eve that very same year that they'd both finally managed to realize just exactly what had unexpectedly managed to happen to them over the course of the months that had followed that adventure. Over the course of the months that had followed their managing to become allies and set things up for her to serve effectively as a double agent for the Titans, Cheshire and Speedy had quite unexpectedly, yet at the same time somewhat quite touchingly, managed to develop their working relationship to a quite strong relationship that had only later managed to develop into what they were both quite certain could be accurately classified and labeled with a certain four letter word that began with 'L'. And now, in spite of initial efforts to resist, they'd decided to allow for today to be a time for them to have a chance at going exploring and testing to see if perhaps they truly could work out in that kind of way. This was something that Cheshire found herself quite surprised to privately admit actually scared her infinitely more than her work under the leadership of Savage and her other, higher up, master, her work with the Brotherhood of Evil before then, and even all the assassinations and similar missions she'd undergone before that ever had. And quite frankly, she had no idea at all what to expect or how to tell for certain what would happen or if she knew how to do it all properly.

Speedy chuckled in a good natured way, stood up from his initial sitting position, and extended his hand towards Cheshire. "Come with me, and I'll show you."

Cheshire thought to herself, trying as hard as she could to avoid showing any signs of being nervous, yet at the same time unwittingly giving off very subtle hints that only Speedy managed to notice. Then she grabbed onto his hand, a small nervous smile of her own now on her face. "Very well then," she said. "Let's get going then."

. . . . .

"I WAS SAFE!"

"LISTEN KID, I'M THE UMPIRE, AND _I_ SAY YOU'RE _OUT_!"

Sarah sighed, and all but one of the kids present rolled their eyes or slumped over with an annoyed look on their faces. "This is gonna be fun," they all thought to themselves in unison.

Admittedly, things had started off smoothly enough for them today. At exactly 9:00 am., Sarah and the kids had arrived at the park ready for their planned activities. And soon after arrival it hadn't taken at long for the entire group to notice that, much to the shock and joy of all the kids, none other than their virtual God among men Cyborg himself had been leaning up against the tree that Sarah had said they'd be gathering around upon initial arrival at the park. Sarah had been the only one amongst the group who had not been at all surprised. And soon enough, after almost half an hour of the kids enthusiastically greeting, hugging, and likewise showering praise upon the bionic teenage hero, Sarah had gotten them all to order and had engaged them in a brief meeting before then calling for them to get started on their first planned activity; and immediately after all the kids had started stampeding further into the park, clearly fully aware of just what the planned first activity was, Sarah had only paused long enough to greet Cyborg and quite joyfully, yet calmly, thank him for being there for her and the kids before they'd both calmly started walking off to follow the kids. And so, at the current moment, they were in the midst of playing baseball together with Sarah as their coach and Cyborg as the umpire.

Unfortunately, as indicated by the shouting that was now going on between Cyborg and one younger African American boy with a prosthetic metal hand, the somewhat unhappy look on Sarah's face, and the annoyed looks on all the other kids, a quite unsubtle pitfall had just now unfolded to interrupt their game when they were still only one out away from ending the 3rd inning and moving on to the 4th. The younger boy, Alan Cheadle, had only minutes ago finished sliding to 3rd base after having managed to successfully run without worry from home plate to 1st base, and from there to 2nd base, before then being forced to slide the rest of the way to 3rd base after one of the outfielders had managed to catch the ball while he was halfway between 2nd and 3rd and then tossed it over to the 3rd baseman. Now from the way he saw it, he'd successfully slid to 3rd base in time to just barely be ahead of the moment when the 3rd baseman had caught the ball.

Cyborg, however, with the considerably enhanced vision that his cybernetics applied him with, said otherwise. From what he'd managed to both directly catch sight of with his single biological human eye and very painstakingly record with the surprisingly high maintenance camera in his cybernetic eye, Alan's foot had slid onto the base just 2 seconds after the 3rd baseman had caught the ball. That being said, while 1/3 of the rest of the kids had seen enough to find reason to agree with Cyborg, another 1/3 had been miffed over hearing what Cyborg had announced but were willing to let it go and accept his call to avoid unnecessary drama, and the remaining 1/3 quite frankly didn't care and just wanted to resume the game, Alan had not at all been about to let the fact that the umpire was the bigtime personal hero to both him and all the other kids in the group stop him from complaining against Cyborg's call. And thus the two were now arguing about it.

"No fair, and not true!" Alan yelled. "Fowl call!"

"I called it fair and square pal," Cyborg responded. "You're out!"

Alan lifted up his hands and positioned them as if he were pretending to place the tips of his fingers in his ears. "Maybe you need to get your eyes checked!" he yelled.

"Excuse me?" Cyborg exclaimed. He pointed up at his blood red cybernetic eye. "This eye can record and play back digital images in a blink!"

" _Especially_ that eye!" Alan yelled.

At that moment, Sarah walked up over to the two arguing boys. "Alright, break it up you two. No need to get all bent out of shape here."

"But Ms. Simms!" Alan complained.

"Alan," said Sarah. "Please, just calm down. It's just a game. And besides, your biggest idol is here. Surely you don't want to ruin the experience for all your friends?"

Alan thought to himself, then he sighed, and nodded his head. "You're right," said the young boy. "I'm sorry."

Sarah chuckled, and then pointed at Cyborg. "Him to."

"Sorry Cyborg."

Cyborg placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Don't you worry kiddo. No hard feelings."

The boy chuckled, and Cyborg smiled. Sarah also smiled, clearly happy that things had now ended happily before they could escalate too high. "Alright everybody," she then said. "Water break!" All the kids were very quick to agree, and so was Cyborg. It didn't take long at all for the kids and the two 20-year-olds to gather around a small hillside near where the baseball game was occurring.

When Cyborg finished his 3rd bottle of water, he eagerly let out a sigh as he practically slammed the bottle down on the ground next to him. "Boy what a day."

Sarah chuckled, her blue eyes agleam, and she shook her head side to side. "They sure are a handful aren't they?"

"Are you kidding?" Cyborg asked. "They're _way_ more than a handful. Heck, I'd say they're about _five_ handfuls." Sarah started laughing. "I'm serious!"

Sarah chuckled again, playfully slapped Cyborg on the left shoulder, and then turned her head to face the area where all the kids she was watching were gathered, a contented sigh seeping out of her lips. "Were they really that bad?"

Cyborg thought to himself. "Well, ok, maybe not _that_ bad. But still, I'm surprised you're able to put up with them so well."

"It's actually not as hard as you think," Sarah said in a perfectly kind and polite tone. "Especially once you've worked with them as long as I have." She gestured her hand to indicate them all. "And believe me, when you know them as well as I do, it's almost as if they're your own children. Sure, some of them may not be all that keen on agreeing with some of your less pleasant calls . . ."

"You don't say," said Cyborg, briefly directing a dark gaze towards Alan.

"But even so," Sarah continued, seemingly not having noticed Cyborg's brief glare at Alan. "They all look up to you. And I'm sure that at least makes the less pleasant bits worthwhile right?"

Cyborg thought to himself, then sighed, and hung his head. "To tell you the truth, I sometimes wonder if I'm really worthy of being viewed the way they view me."

This caught Sarah's attention, and she turned her head to face him, an inquisitive, yet also concerned, look on her face. "Why?"

Cyborg sighed. "Well for one, just like you said last year when we first met, my friends and I so rarely get the proper recognition and thanks we should. I mean really, the Justice League always gets more attention, and I'm not entirely certain that those people don't view us as anything other than a ragtag and unorganized group of kids." He lifted up his right hand and looked at it. "And then there's my appearance. I know that my teammates are perfectly fine with me as I am, and obviously so are the kids you babysit. But even so, I still remember how so many people I used to know from before I met either member of those two groups who were either disgusted or terrified of me. Heck, there are still people here in Jump City who have similar reactions towards me, Raven, and Beast Boy. But of the three of us, I'm the only one who people like that are ever up front with about it to my face. And sometimes, I can't help but wonder if . . ."

Sarah placed her hand on Cyborg's left hand, and the unexpected contact caused Cyborg to stop talking. He turned his head towards Sarah, who smiled, and shook her head side to side. "Just because you're different doesn't mean you're wrong," said Sarah with an almost sage like tone of wisdom. She clenched her hand tighter around Cyborg's. "It doesn't matter what's on the outside. It's what's inside that counts. And that applies especially well to you." She took a deep breath, exhaled, and then looked Cyborg right in both his eyes. "Because whatever those other people say doesn't matter to me, or to these kids; and it shouldn't matter to you or your teammates either. They may look only at your armor and see a freak or a monster. But the rest of us look under this armor, and the kids here see a hero, and I see a man." She lifted her hand up from Cyborg's. "And that's what you should see yourself as."

Cyborg was blown away, both astounded and touched by what Sarah said. At the same time, he also felt a sense of Déjà vu from the line she'd said about what was underneath his armor; in fact, it was almost as if he'd once heard her, or someone very similar to her, say a very similar line long ago. Then he heard rustling from his left, and he turned his head in time to see Sarah getting up on her feet. "Come on," said the girl. "Don't want to keep the kids waiting."

Cyborg raised his eyebrow playfully. "Getting ambitious are we?"

Sarah guffawed, and rolled her eyes. "You know perfectly well what I mean."

Cyborg chuckled. "Indeed I do." He got up, and the pair promptly walked off to get the kids back to their game.

. . . . .

Robin couldn't have felt happier as he drove the R-Cycle down the path he was currently taking, feeling the wind rush at his sides. Then his smile widened underneath his helmet; he had to admit, he also quite enjoyed the company of the passenger sitting behind him with her arms wrapped around him for safety.

"Please Robin," said Starfire, a small look of anticipation on her face underneath her distinctive pink helmet, and the blindfold she was wearing underneath said helmet. "Do tell me where we are going."

Robin chuckled. "Not yet Star," said the Boy Wonder. "That would spoil the surprise."

"But must it be a surprise?" Starfire asked innocently. "Surely you could go ahead and let me know in advance?"

"And ruin the mood?" Robin asked back. "Come on Star. Where's the romance in that?"

"I will admit; you have the point."

"Thank you," said Robin.

"But even so," said Starfire. "I am getting quite the excited as to what it is you have planned for me today, and I am not sure I can handle being in darkness over this matter."

Robin mentally chuckled at his girlfriend's adorkable misquoting of a typical earthling phrase. "Don't worry Star," said the teen caped crusader. "You'll be out of the dark soon enough. We're almost there."

"Almost where?" Starfire asked, her tone now clearly showing signs of how excited she was to the point that she was almost squealing with anticipation.

"You'll see real soon," Robin said cryptically. "I promise."

Starfire sighed, but nodded her head, clearly willing to trust that her boyfriend meant what he said. After what felt like an eternity to the excited Tamaranean, she finally felt and heard the R-Cycle come to a stop, and heard Robin say, "Alright Star, we've made it."

Starfire instantly snapped herself mentally to attention, wondering just where she and Robin were. She eagerly let Robin help her off the R-Cycle when he offered his hand, more than willing to let Robin determine how best to let her figure out the answer to this question. Sure enough, she then felt her helmet get removed, and heard Robin say, "Ok, you can open your eyes now." Starfire took off the blindfold, and she found her emerald eyes widening as she recognized the area. It was the pier-based amusement park.

"Robin," Starfire said with a hint of both joy and surprise. "I . . . I was under the belief that this place had been abandoned."

"Officially, yes, it is," Robin responded, a small smile on his face at the sight of how Starfire was reacting to having been taken to this particular place. "But let's just say that, thanks to me, this place will be unofficially _not_ abandoned for at least today, just for the two of us."

Starfire felt a wide smile come on her face, all while fighting to avoid crying tears of joy at just how far Robin was going to make sure this day was special for the both of them. "How . . . how did you manage that?"

Robin let off a cheeky grin. "I have my ways." In fact, as he had a very strong feeling would prove true, he would likely receive a very angry phone call from Gotham City considering just whose computer he'd managed to hack into and cause a donation to be transferred to Jump City for the sake of today's outing, all falsely under the name of the man who owned the computer in question. But of course, he planned, as usual, to ignore that phone call when it came; and it wasn't as if he really cared at the moment what that particular person thought of him. Today was a day for him and Star to enjoy, regardless of how pissed off Batman got about it. "And by God," Robin thought to himself, "if this is gonna be me and Star's first and last Valentine's Day together as a couple, then I am _going_ to make sure that she and I enjoy it to the fullest, and with style."

Starfire giggled, and looked around the area. Then she looked directly at Robin, who was still standing by the entrance. "So, how do we get in?"

Robin grinned, and placed his hand on the top of the almost ludicrously small wooden gate that currently made a meagre effort at blocking their path. "Well since it's been reserved for the two of us just for today, and it's officially abandoned otherwise," he kicked the center of the gate, causing the two doors to swing backwards out of the way, revealing the gate to not even be locked, "I say we just walk right through the front door."

. . . . .

At 12:15, Raven and Beast Boy had decided to take a break and were now at a nearby food joint within the zoo. As Beast Boy chowed down heartily on his two double veggie burgers, he found himself thinking quite happily to himself about just how good things were currently going for him. Just this morning alone, things had already gone considerably better for him than he'd feared they would after the previous night's unpleasant revelation. He mentally took a deep breath and just as mentally exhaled to clear his head of those thoughts. "Not yet," he thought to himself.

On other positive notes, Beast Boy also had to admit that he and Raven had already managed to make quite a large bit of progress through the zoo by the time they'd decided to stop for lunch. In fact, the very last enclosure they'd visited before stopping was the 39th exhibit total in the entire zoo; the home of the zoo's resident herd of bison. And now that he thought about it all, he had to admit that he was quite glad that he and Raven had still been the only guests in this particular segment of the zoo when they'd visited the orcas on display in the zoo's 36th exhibit. "SeaWorld and other parks of the sort could really learn a thing or two from the way Jump City does it," he thought to himself. Then his eyes narrowed into a glare at nothing in particular. "Though if I ever hear another word of a debate on this matter, I swear. . ."

"Having fun I presume?"

Beast Boy looked up from his food, and he very nearly answered right away before remembering that he was talking to Raven, and he held his voice back just long enough to finish swallowing the mouthful of tofu burger he still had in his mouth. "You bet," he responded. He leaned back in his chair, sighing in content. "I have to admit, I don't think I've ever spent so much time here at the zoo without having to worry about some other bunch of guests getting all noisy and annoying; and don't get me started on some of the acts of blatant disrespect a bunch of the guests I've met have tried to pull around here. Good thing I've always been around to stop them, and if not me, the zoo staff."

"I can imagine," said Raven.

"Darn right," said Beast Boy. He sighed in contentment again. Then he looked at Raven, a small smile still on his face. "You know Rae," said the changeling, "I noticed that you seemed to be especially interested in watching the vultures while we were visiting them." And in fact, at the vulture enclosure, which happened to be the absolute last animals they visited before their time at the bison enclosure, Raven had seemed to be quite keen on sticking around for a while to watch the intimidating, yet in their own way valuable, scavenger birds.

Raven nodded her head, not even bothering to try to correct Beast Boy on referring to her by his preferred nickname for her rather than her actual preferred name. "Indeed I did," she admitted. She nodded her head, unintentionally dislodging her hair and allowing it to billow around slightly in the slight breeze that followed. "I've sometimes felt a bit of companionship with those birds."

Beast Boy lifted his eyebrow, clearly intrigued. "Do explain," he asked politely.

Raven thought to herself. "I suppose I can go ahead and do that. After all, we still have plenty of time to see all the other animals before we leave. And besides, I'm sure the others wouldn't mind if we continued to extend our time here as much as they're doubtlessly doing for their own outings."

Beast Boy's grin widened. "Oh now I'm _definitely_ listening."

. . . . .

"See? That wasn't so bad now was it?"

Red Star chuckled, and then lifted up his bottle of sparkling cider in a victory gesture. "It was fun," he admitted. Then he looked down at the people who had been unlucky to now be passed out on the floor. "At least, that is, once I actually managed to get a solid standing in this fight." He unconsciously winced, and pressed a finger to his face, wincing again as he felt the area that would very likely be bruised after how hard he'd gotten punched there at the very beginning of the brawl that had occurred before lunch. "I will also admit though," said the former Russian soldier, "that I will probably still feel a thing or two from this battle tomorrow, and not in a good way."

Pantha chuckled, and slapped the Russian boy on the shoulder. "Don't be so dramatic," she damn near purred. "We had plenty of fun now didn't we?"

Red Star chuckled, and lowered his hand. "I don't know." He turned his head to face all the other gathered patrons who hadn't ended up being knocked out cold over the course of the two brawls that had occurred at the bar over the course of the last few hours. "What say you comrades?" They all heartily cheered. The former soldier smiled, and turned his head to face Pantha once more. "Yep," he agreed. "We definitely had plenty of fun."

Pantha chuckled. "That is good to hear friend. Good to hear."

"Indeed." Then Red Star seemed to think of something, and he winced both mentally and visually. "Though I will also admit, I am not looking forward to experiencing what might end up happening once komandir Robin finds out, not to mention how Wildebeest would potentially react if he were to find us here."

"You worry too much," said Pantha. She took a sip from her bottle of sparkling cider, emptying out the last drops. "What they don't know won't hurt them. And besides, it's not like they necessarily have to know about all this . . ."

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

Pantha tensed up in confusion. Red Star also looked confused. The pair turned their heads just in time to see none other than the bartender standing nearby with a half confused and half unnerved look on his face. All the other patrons also directed their gaze at the bartender. "Sorry to disturb you and your friend madam," said the bartender. "But you see, right now there's this strange animal boy standing at the door."

Pantha raised her eyebrow, completely uncomprehending of what was going on. Red Star, likewise, looked confused as well.

"He also appears to be holding onto a device similar to the ones you dropped off at the entrance, and a sheet of paper. And from what it says on the paper, he appears to be asking for his . . . 'mother'?"

Red Star raised his eyebrow, still confused. Then he turned his head to face Pantha, and his heart stopped at the sight of how Pantha's face had now very noticeably paled. And within seconds, he himself soon reached the same conclusion that Pantha had just now likely reached.

"Red?" said Pantha. "What time is it?"

Red Star gulped, and he hurriedly checked the clock on the wall to his left. His eyes widened. "It's 3:00."

At that moment, Pantha looked as if she would either scream, or curse. "Shoot," she hissed. "This is not good."

"No kidding," Red Star agreed. And agreed, their situation did not currently look good. Over the course of the brawl they'd taken part in before lunch, they'd completely forgotten a very important detail regarding their original plans for the day. They'd been supposed to depart from the bar at around 11:45 to pick up Wildebeest from the preschool they'd dropped him off at. And immediately after that, the plan had been for them all to stop at Esposito's Taco Joint for lunch before later going out on the town to some other location of Wildebeest's choosing just for fun. Right now though, as they had now quite unfortunately found out the hard way, things had gone quite off course in regard to the original plan.

But then things got worse. At the sound of thundering footsteps coming from the location of the door to the bar, Pantha, Red Star, and the other patrons still conscious turned their heads in time to see none other than Wildebeest come stomping into view with his muscles tensed up, his fists clenched, and a very angry look on his face. Pantha noticeably paled once more upon sight of the angry look on the humanoid wildebeest's face. All the time she'd known him, and she had never once seen Wildebeest be anywhere _close_ to this level of anger. Then Wildebeest snapped his head in her direction, his silent snarl seemingly taking on a form that made him look even angrier, and she winced. "This can't be good," she thought to herself.

Wildebeest snorted, now clearly struggling to keep it together, and he reared his right arm back before then tossing what turned out to be two very familiar objects at Pantha and Red Star. The pair instinctively caught the two objects, and found themselves mentally wincing upon recognizing said objects as their communicators. They looked each other in the eyes, then at Wildebeest, and then at their communicators. They took a deep breath, exhaled, and then opened the communicators.

Unfortunately, upon opening the communicators and discovering the massive amount of unanswered 'texts' from Wildebeest, who had apparently been dropped off at Esposito's right on time, and had spent 2½ hours waiting before eventually getting fed up and storming off to find them. And evidently, he'd managed to successfully track them down; and judging from how angry he currently appeared to be, he was clearly _not_ happy about where he'd managed to find them.

In complete unison, Red Star and Pantha lifted their heads just in time to see Wildebeest still standing where he was, but now with his arms crossed, and a blank look of disapproval on his face. The pair winced. Now Wildebeest looked even more unsettling then he'd already looked. They looked around, and mentally winced again as they saw the looks of sympathy and pity on the faces of all the other conscious patrons and the look of absolute nervousness on the face of the bartender, who clearly had no experience with dealing with nonhuman characters. They looked back at Wildebeest, who still had his unsettlingly blank look on his face.

Red Star mentally winced, cursing himself for allowing himself and Pantha to be knocked so easily off track. He looked over at Pantha. "We are going to die."

Pantha nodded her head, and this time Red Star felt far more unnerved then he would have if she'd agreed with him so readily at any other moment. "Tell me about it," she groaned.

. . . . .

Gnark was currently uncertain how to feel. At the moment, he was sitting around by the feet of the t-rex skeleton on display in the hall of prehistoric wildlife, waiting for Kole and Jericho to come back from their extended trip through the rest of the museum. He had actually been waiting around in this very room for virtually the entirety of the visit ever since the young couple had departed said room to explore the rest of the museum. Under any other circumstances, he would have followed the couple. Right now, however, he had too much else on his mind.

The caveman-like boy directed his head towards the stuffed smilodon, paralyzed forever in mid-roar. He mentally sighed. "For all I know, he may have died alone," thought Gnark. "But regardless, judging from his posture, he certainly died with dignity." He hung his head. "And I'd certainly be pleased to die with dignity as well; though preferably not alone."

Gnark hung his head, sighing in a resigned tone. "I should have known this day would come," he thought to himself. Granted, he probably should have brought this matter up a long time ago. But quite honestly, it truly wasn't until now that he finally found it a sufficient time to properly think on the matter in question, and it wasn't pleasant (at least from his perspective anyway).

Gnark sighed once again. Even after the day they'd first met each other, Gnark had always known that a world of difference existed between him and Kole in more ways than one. And throughout all the time they'd spent together and known each other, he'd always known that the life she was able to live alongside him was not at all like what she'd used to live up in the surface world before the events that had caused her to flee deep underground to the point of finding him in the first place. And with that in mind, he'd always had this deeply entrenched fear of Kole casting him aside in favor of a chance to return to the life she'd known from before meeting him, and only she was capable of convincing him to repress it whenever he encountered any elements that proved worthy of causing said fear to rise to the immediate surface of his mind.

Gnark turned his head away from the smilodon, gazing towards the side exit that Kole and Jericho had used to depart to whatever room had been the first for them to explore after they'd finished their time in the Hall of Prehistoric Wildlife. "And now," he thought to himself. "It seems very likely that such a moment in which she will finally leave the nest to fly without me will come in the very near future; and that this time, I may very well truly be cruel to try to convince her to do otherwise." He hung his head. "Not that it will be any less painful to let her go." He mentally cursed for thinking such thoughts, for even he was smart enough to know how selfish they were from the right perspective. As any fool could see clear as day, Kole was like the little sister he'd never had; and as a brother, he really was supposed to be proud of her and happy that she'd found that special boy worth giving her heart to. Admittedly, yes he was happy for her, but he also believed that what happiness he did have was too unhealthily watered down with his own worries about what sort of changes would befall the dynamic that he'd already had with her before meeting the mute, green eyed, blonde boy. And he didn't even want to think of what Kole would say if she knew just how worried he was about her leaving his life entirely when he really should have been hoping for the best for her own happiness with Jericho.

"Hey Gnark."

The caveboy lifted his head and saw Kole walk in through the very exit that she'd accompanied Jericho through so many hours ago. "I thought I'd go and check on you and see if you were alright. I mean, you've apparently been sitting here since Jericho and I left this room, and you never even joined us for lunch. Suffice it to say, I was quite concerned"

Gnark grunted, and then raised his eyebrow as he belatedly realized that Kole had come in alone. "Gnark?"

Kole smiled, for she could tell what Gnark was trying to say almost as easily as if he'd actually said the words out loud. "He's in the World War II Memorial Hall." She briefly turned her head to look behind her. "He likes to spend long amounts of time at every World War II or Holocaust related location he visits just to make sure he's spent absolutely as much time there as he can to give his respects." She looked back at her surrogate brother figure. "So, mind if I ask just why you spent all this time here today? Last time I checked, you were very keen on playing chaperone for me and Jericho, and I doubt chaperones can really do their job all that well if they spend a large amount of time in one location and let the people they're supposed to be watching over spend almost the entirety of their time together out of the chaperones' sight."

Gnark let out a small chuckle, a brief smile on his face. Then he sighed, and hung his head, not even sure if he could look his surrogate little sister in the eye without giving away the unworthy thoughts he'd had in his head not too long ago.

Kole sighed, and took a seat next to the hulking caveboy. "Look Gnark," she said patiently. "I know how you feel about my relationship with Jericho."

Gnark's eyes widened, and he lifted his head. Kole nodded her head without even looking at her stunned foster brother. "Don't try to deny it Gnark; I know you too well for you to fool me anymore."

Gnark tensed up slightly, pausing to think about how to respond. Then he sighed, and nodded his head. "Gnark," he then said apologetically.

"It's alright Gnark," Kole responded. "You don't have to be sorry. Believe me, any big brother who truly cares about their little sister would feel the same way you do." She nodded her head. "Yes indeed."

"Gnark."

"I know it feels that way to you Gnark," said Kole. She placed a hand on her hulking foster brother's shoulder. "But trust me, it's perfectly natural for you to feel this way. In fact, from the right perspective, it's hardly any different from how you felt when we first met and joined the Titans, or when we were all gathered at the tower together following our victory against the Brotherhood of Evil. Believe me, if you didn't feel concerned about me in this situation the way you currently are, I'd honestly be insulted." She looked ahead. "Trust me Gnark, there's no need to worry."

"Gnark."

Kole smiled. "Been watching a lot of Pokemon lately I see."

"Gnark," grunted the caveboy, who now sounded more than a little aggrieved.

"Right, sorry, bad time to joke," Kole admitted.

"Gnark."

Kole sighed, and turned her head to face her surrogate brother once more. "Look, let me put it this way. I know you're worried about eventually losing me in the future as my relationship with Jericho and my strong friendships with everyone else on this team grow stronger and stronger. But just like I've told you every other time you've felt this way, I won't leave you to live the rest of your life forever alone. And quite frankly, neither will Jericho or the rest of the Titans. And we'll never forget you either, regardless of if we ever get separated in any fashion whatsoever. Trust me, if you chose to leave the Titans North Tower in Wing City and have our old home beneath the Earth's surface become your permanent living space once again, the other Titans and I would always find time to visit you during times of peace. In the event that Jericho and I marry, we'll gladly make sure to name you an honorary uncle to our children. If you die, and we're still alive, we'll visit your grave and pay respects at just about every moment that we possibly can." She lowered her hand from the caveboy's shoulder. "Believe me, regardless of how things unfold between me and Jericho and in regards to the rest of our teammates, you'll always be my big brother. Trust me, the Titans and I, we're your family. And with families, no one gets left behind or forgotten."

Gnark thought to himself, and then sighed. "Gnark," he then said, clearly meaning to say 'if you say so'.

Kole gave the caveboy a sisterly pat on the shoulder. "Come on," said the pinkette. "Let's go back to find Jericho. Trust me, you'll be much better off sticking with us for the rest of this trip. Believe me, you'll fit in just fine, and you'll feel much better to." Gnark thought to himself, and then nodded. With a small bit of assistance from Kole, the caveboy got back onto his feet, and then the surrogate brother and sister departed from the Hall of Prehistoric Wildlife to join back up with Jericho at the World War II Memorial Hall.

. . . . .

"Totally worth the long walk we had to take to get here huh?"

Argent sighed. "Isiah," she stated almost through gritted teeth. "I gave you the answer to that very question without you even asking it hours ago. Must you keep asking?"

"Not really," Hotspot admitted. "I just like hearing your answer Toni."

Argent sighed. "Well I hope you've enjoyed the times you've already heard me answer, because for the last time, the answer is yes. And trust me, if you ask me that one more time, I will leave you glued to a tree with my red goo. And trust me, I'd rather you not try to find out the hard way whether or not it's flammable."

Hotspot gave a low nervous chuckle. "Ok then," said the pyrokinetic.

Argent chuckled, this one in good spirits. Then she looked up towards the sky. "How long are we going to be camping out here again?"

"Your call Toni," said Hotspot. "The way I see it, I'm more than willing to stay here as long as you want, regardless of whether or not you want to return to the tower before supper, return after dinner, or spend the night here like regular campers would."

Argent thought to herself. "Presumably, if I picked either of the latter two options, you're saying that you have food available?"

"You betcha," said Hotspot. He pointed over to the tent. "That rehydrator and batch of dehydrated food packets I brought along for lunch? I've got more of those packs ready to be placed into the device for dinner."

"Well then settles it," said Argent. She placed her hands on the log she was sitting on alongside Hotspot, already relaxing in her position. "We're spending the night."

"Oh really?"

"Really. Trust me, Red Star's teased us enough this week. And besides, we could really use some time to ourselves."

"Well when you put it that way I can certainly say that I agree," said Hotspot, a cheeky smile now on his face.

"Don't get ahead of yourself now," said Argent. "I may be saying yes to the two of spending the night together without any of our teammates around, but I am most certainly not giving you the all clear to go that far with me just yet. And if you even think of trying to pull anything on me, you'll regret it."

"Don't worry Toni," said Hotspot. "I may be a hothead, but I know how to properly handle stuff like this. And even if I were that kind of guy, you'd still be the girl that I'd always treat with respect."

"And thank God for that," Argent agreed.

Hotspot chuckled, and shook his head side to side. Argent also chuckled. Then, as one, they sighed, and looked up towards the sky. For another few minutes, they stared up at the sky in a companionable silence. Argent sighed, and then looked over to her left. "Isiah," she then said, a sentimental look in her eyes. "I'm sorry if this puts a bit of a downer on today, but, have you, by any chance . . .?"

Hotspot sighed, hung his head, and shook it side to side. "I'm sorry Toni," said Hotspot. "I wish I could say different. I really do. But I'm not gonna lie to you; and especially not over something this important to us."

Argent sighed, and hung her head. "No word from Cody?"

"No word from Cody," Hotspot confirmed somberly.

Argent sighed again. "I presume you've also neither seen nor heard anything about him from any other source?"

Hotspot shook his head. "Nothing." He sighed. "Honestly, it's almost as if the dude just vanished into thin air."

Argent sighed, and directed a sad, almost longing, look at the scarecrow figure designed to bear just the slightest similarity to their old friend. Her eyes narrowed in sadness as she stared at the figure, and she felt the slightest bit of moisture begin to build up in her eyes. "The Brotherhood of Evil never found him you know."

"Toni," said Hotspot warily.

"I mean it Isiah," said Argent. She sighed. "He wasn't with us when we got captured, or when we all fought off and defeated the Brotherhood together. And he's never once been seen or heard from at all in any way, shape, or form since the day we first split up to find our place in the world after we developed our powers." She hung her head. "Isiah, I know you don't like to think about this, and I don't want to believe it any more than you do. But honestly, times like this, I sometimes just can't help but wonder if . . . maybe . . . just maybe . . . perhaps Cody might very well be . . ."

"Don't say it Toni," said Hotspot. "Please Toni, don't say it. Not today."

"But what if he is?" Argent sniffled, and hung her head even further. "Like I said Isiah, I don't want to believe it any more than you do. But seriously think about it. What if he's dead?"

"He's not," said Hotspot. "I know he's not."

"Then why isn't he here with us now?" Argent asked, now clearly on the verge of tears. She didn't even need to lift her head and reveal how much on the verge of tears she was for Hotspot to know. "Why haven't we once seen or heard from him since the day we split up five years ago? Why has he been so off the radar all this time? Why didn't he come to try to save us last year when we got captured by the brotherhood? Why wasn't the Brotherhood or anyone else at all even able to find him during all that drama? Why . . . why . . . why . . .?"

Argent lifted her hands in time for her face to fall down across them, and she broke down completely, now crying without stop. Hotspot said nothing, but instead calmly wrapped his arms around Argent from where he was sitting to give his girlfriend a comforting hug to cheer her up. Argent all too eagerly repositioned herself so that she had her face pressed up against Hotspot's chest as she continued to cry. "It's alright Toni," he whispered as Argent continued sobbing into his chest. "It's alright Toni. Everything will be alright."

Argent sniffled, and turned her head around to look towards the bushes that she and Hotspot had walked through to enter the clearing. "I miss him Isiah."

"Me to Toni," Hotspot admitted. "I miss him to."

Argent sniffled again, and weakly rubbed a tear away from her eyes. "He should be here with us."

"Yes he should."

Argent hung her head, or at least as much as she could in her current position. "It's not fair."

"No it's not." Hotspot sighed. "But alive or dead, you know he wouldn't want us to be like this, at least not all the time. He'd want us to live our lives without him as best as we can, as good as we can, and as happy as we can; regardless of whether or not he is or ever will be here to enjoy it with us."

"I know," Argent admitted. "It's still so hard though."

"I know," said Hotspot. "But if it were easy, then that would mean we never cared."

Argent sighed. "Ain't that the truth?"

Hotspot sighed, and nodded his head. He reluctantly pulled away from his embrace with Argent and got up from the log. Argent turned her head in his direction, a slightly confused look on her face. "I know you probably really would rather not," said Hotspot. "But you're free to come join me on this little walk I'm about to take through these woods if you want. I mean, after all . . ."

"Say no more."

Argent got up from the log and walked up to join her boyfriend. "I'm coming with you." She let a weak smile come on her face. "Believe me, I'd sooner hike through a million forests like these without proper preparative measures then let myself waste away alone in sadness over what may or may not have happened to Cody. And besides, from what I remember about Cody, he'd totally kill you if you left me here on my own."

"True enough," Hotspot admitted.

Argent chuckled, her smile now somewhat stronger and happier looking. "Shall we be off then?"

"Right this way madam," said Hotspot. And just like that, the couple walked off into the woods to begin their second hike that day.

. . . . .

"So, pretty good huh?"

Jinx chuckled, tossing her holographic blonde hair over her shoulders side to side as she walked alongside Kid Flash across the mall parking lot. "I will admit, you certainly kept your word."

"Damn right I did," said Kid Flash. He chuckled. "I will admit though; I'm still pretty surprised myself that I was able to keep myself quiet."

"Well it's nonetheless a good thing you were able to keep yourself quiet," said Jinx. "You know perfectly well what would have happened if you hadn't."

"That I do," Kid Flash admitted.

Jinx sighed in content, and looked around the area. "I will admit; this is the first time I've ever felt happy to attend a magic show with you."

"Right back at you Jenn," said Kid Flash. He chuckled. "Heck, I'll admit it right now, there were actually a couple tricks that lucky magician pulled that I still haven't yet managed to figure out."

"Get out," said Jinx.

"No I'm serious," Kid Flash defended. "He's seriously got me stumped on a trick or two."

"The mighty Wally West stumped on a magic trick?" Jinx asked playfully. "It must be the end of the world."

"Ha, ha, ha; very funny," Kid Flash responded in a completely deadpan tone.

Jinx chuckled, and shook her head side to side. Then she came to a stop, Kid Flash stopping himself seconds later. "In all seriousness though," said Jinx. "I really did have fun today."

"Hey, don't mention it," Kid Flash responded. "My pleasure."

Jinx chuckled, and then directed a loving look towards her boyfriend. "You know Wally, I'm sure you've heard this to death from me, but I really am glad that you were able to convince me to leave the H.I.V.E. and life as a villain for good."

"I know you are," said Kid Flash. He placed his hands on his girlfriend's shoulders. "Believe me, I do; and I'm glad that you are. I really am."

Jinx smiled, and so did Kid Flash. Then they gave each other a chaste kiss right there in the parking lot. After what felt like an eternity to the couple, they pulled away, smiling still. Kid Flash then took a small step back. "Come on," said the speedster. "Let's get going. The earlier we arrive the better."

"What are you talking about?" Jinx asked.

"Well you see," Kid Flash explained. "I also managed to score us two tickets to visit the art gallery today, and I'd really prefer to avoid the rush of visitors to come for the Indian showcase tonight."

Jinx smiled adoringly. Her boyfriend truly had thought the whole thing out for today. "Lead the way, Wally," she responded. "Lead the way."

. . . . .

At around 5:30 pm., the concert was still going strong, and Herald and Bumblebee were likewise still having the time of their lives. Even Mas and Menos were quite clearly enjoying themselves.

"Woo!" Bumblebee yelled as yet another round of applause burst from the throats of the audience members. "You go boys!"

"Si! Si! Si!" chattered the twin speedsters.

Herald chuckled. "Someone's sure getting fan-girly."

"Damn right I am!" Bumblebee pointed up at the band still performing on the stage in front of them. "These guys are the best damn Rock & Roll band in the entire Goddamn United States of America!"

"They're certainly better than that crazy head Punk Rocket, that's for sure," the Herald agreed.

"Oh don't you get me started on that loser!" Bumblebee shouted. "That freak is a disgrace to the very _idea_ of rock and roll! And the fact that he considers himself such a hardcore fan of rock and roll as to be at _my_ level absolutely disgusts me!"

"You sure that's got nothing to do with him being one of the two punks responsible for nearly capturing you during all that drama with the Brotherhood last year?"

"Hey, those dummies could have sent _any_ lame ass villains after me; I'd still hate that infidel as much as I already do!"

"Infidel?" Herald asked. "That's an awfully strong word."

"Strong yes," said Bumblebee. "But also one damn hundred percent true!"

"If you say so," said Herald. He turned his head to look back at the band, and then both he and Bumblebee let out a resounding "Woo!"

At this point, Mas and Menos nervously looked each other in the eyes, and then directed that same nervous look back at the two young adults chaperoning them.

"Que son estas personas, y lo que han hecho para nuestros amigos?" Mas asked.

"Ni idea," responded Menos. "Pero es de esperar que vayan a cambiar de nuevo a nuestros amigos una vez más de este concierto. Me gustaría mucho prefieren que no sean todavía excitan y aterrador como este cuando es el momento de volver a casa." Needless to say, at this point they were wondering if they'd perhaps have been better off spending the day with Speedy, or maybe even with Aqualad and Terra.

. . . . .

It was now 6:00 pm., and Aqualad and Terra were currently relaxing on the rocks by a large tide pool, resting and at peace from the large amount of time they'd spent swimming and likewise enjoying themselves at the beach.

Terra, still dressed in her bathing suit, remained peacefully lying down and watching the interior of the tide pool, sighing in content as she watched the creatures inside swimming, bobbing, and crawling about in their own little world. She smiled warmly. "So innocent and carefree," she thought to herself.

"Enjoying the critters are we?"

Terra chuckled, and turned her head to face Aqualad. "You bet I am," the geomancer responded.

"That's good," said the Atlantean. He pointed down at the tide pool, a grin on his face. "Because they all seem to really like your presence here."

Terra chuckled. "Aqualad, you know me better than that. I highly doubt that those critters even remotely care about that."

"Oh really?" said Aqualad with a sense of humor in his tone. "Because I was just talking with them not too long ago and they say otherwise."

"Oh stop," said Terra in mock annoyance.

"I'm serious," said Aqualad, now quite clearly enjoying himself.

"Oh please," said Terra. With a wave of her hand, she slapped the surface of the tide pool and sent water splashing towards the Atlantean. Her boyfriend chuckled, and repeated the maneuver in her direction. Terra giggled, and splashed Aqualad back, who splashed her right back, much to her delight. For another few minutes, the couple continued splashing each other playfully. When they finally stopped, Terra found herself briefly struggling to catch her breath as a result of both how much energy she'd put in and how much she was now still laughing. When she finally managed to get her breath back, she laid back down to her original position from before the splashing and sighed in content.

She felt Aqualad tap her on the shoulder, and she turned her head to face her boyfriend, who pointed down towards the tide pool. "Look at what they're doing," said the Atlantean.

Terra looked where Aqualad was pointing just in time to see a large group of hermit crabs inside the tide pool position themselves to the point that together they formed a large 'I'. As Terra and Aqualad continued to watch, the crabs proceeded to position themselves accordingly to form more and more letters. Thus, Terra witnessed the crabs forming a message that, when the individual letters were all connected together properly, clearly said 'I love you Tara'.

The geomancer smiled, and turned her head to face Aqualad. "You didn't have to do that Garth."

Aqualad smiled. "That obvious huh?"

Terra chuckled, and looked back at the tide pool just in time for the hermit crabs to scatter away back to their original activities, their task completed and their telepathic link with Aqualad no longer active. Terra sighed in content. "It must be nice to be able to talk to sea creatures like that. I'm sure that if Beast Boy had a similar ability with all animals, period, he could set up quite the romantic spectacle for Raven when they finally get together."

"Oh really?" Aqualad asked.

"Don't you deny it," said Terra. "I know you and the other guys talked about that matter to Beast Boy just like the other girls and I talked about it with Raven."

"So true," Aqualad admitted. "So true."

Terra giggled, and then looked out towards the horizon. "It sure was nice hanging out here at the beach all day."

"Indeed it was," Aqualad agreed. He turned his head to face her again, a smile on his face. "And I know something else we could do later this year that could possibly be even more fun."

"Oh really?" Terra asked.

"You bet," said Aqualad.

"Do tell," said Terra.

"One word," said Aqualad. "Atlantis."

For a brief moment, Terra was confused. Then her eyes widened as she finally realized the full import of what Aqualad had just said. "You mean?" she asked.

"Yes Tara," said Aqualad. "Later this year, when I make my usual visit to Atlantis, I'd like you to come with me."

"Garth," said Terra adoringly. Then she closed her eyes, snapping herself back to coherent thought. "But, it's under the ocean," she said, half dreamily and half in disbelief. "I can't possibly truly appreciate it the way you can . . ."

"It's easier than you think," said Aqualad. "You see, the actual city itself is surrounded by a large force field that contains just enough moisture to allow the natives to stay hydrated, but also allows for plenty of oxygen to be present to avoid the risk of anyone drowning. Not to mention it negates the effect of water pressure that would otherwise be felt from being located so deep beneath the ocean's surface." He smiled. "This comes quite in handy whenever any of the surface dwelling members of the league come to visit."

Terra thought to herself, carefully taking note of what Aqualad had just said to counter her suggestion of not being able to survive in Atlantis without some form of aid. Then she directed an adoring smile at Aqualad with her eyes clearly on the verge of tears of joy. "You'd really like to take me to Atlantis with you?"

Aqualad nodded his head. "Yes Tara," said the Atlantean. "I would."

Terra sniffled, now fighting to keep it together. In fact, from the way she was currently behaving, any civilian passerby would have assumed that Aqualad had asked her to marry him. "Garth," she managed to say. Then she hung her head, sniffled once more, and then said, "In that case, yes. Yes, I'll gladly visit with you." She lifted her head. "I'm looking forward to it already."

Aqualad smiled, happy that his girlfriend had accepted his offer to visit Atlantis with him later that year. "Me to."

Terra smiled, and looked back at the setting sun. "What time is it?"

Aqualad drew out his communicator and checked the time. "It's 6:30 now." He looked over at Terra. "Probably about time for dinner."

Terra smiled. "I can definitely agree with you there." She looked herself over, taking note of the fact that she was still in her bathing suit. "In that case," she said. "We'd best get over to the changing rooms. I doubt it would be very decent of me to be present at that diner I used to work at, or any other restaurant for that matter, in nothing but a bathing suit now would it?"

"Nope," said Aqualad. He winced, and then hurriedly backpedaled. "Not like you aren't perfectly good looking with it on . . ."

"Hey now Garth," said Terra. "No need to get your gills in a twist, I know perfectly well what that you meant no offense. And that being said," she extended her hand, letting her Atlantean boyfriend grasp it and help her up onto her feet. "This will be the first time we visit that diner together for dinner as boyfriend and girlfriend, and I'd very much like for you to be on your best behavior."

"Don't you worry Tara," said Aqualad, a smile on his face. "I'll be on my best behavior while we're at that diner. You have my word on that."

. . . . .

"You're absolutely sure that you're ok with eating here?"

"Dreyden," said Cheshire. "I've said it three times now; I'll say it one more time. I'm perfectly fine with eating here for dinner."

"Just had to make sure," said Speedy, a half guilty grimace on his face due to him now believing that he was needlessly getting on Cheshire's nerves. "I mean, I didn't want to make myself seem presumptuous by choosing to have us eat dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant and all."

"Ruh . . . Dreyden," Cheshire stated, very narrowly avoiding referring to the archer by his _actual_ civilian name in her brief bout of annoyance. "If I'd taken any offense whatsoever to your choice of restaurant, I'd have let you know hours ago."

"Understood," Speedy said sheepishly, his eyes narrowing in slight despair at his screw up.

"Good," said Cheshire, then she winced, her own eyes narrowing in discomfort.

Speedy instantly grew concerned. "Are you sure you're ok?" he asked. "I mean, if those aren't comfortable for you to wear, I'll be perfectly fine with you taking them out . . ."

"I can handle it," said Cheshire, placing her hand on her forehead briefly to seemingly fight off the discomfort from the contacts she was wearing to disguise her unnaturally green eyes. "But even so," she then said, a small smile of gratitude on her face, "I appreciate the concern."

"You're welcome," said Speedy, a smile of his own now on his face. Then his face abruptly narrowed into serious mode, and he looked around to check to see if any of the other people in the restaurant would be able to listen in. After deeming it safe, he looked back at Cheshire. "So, perhaps while we're waiting for our orders to arrive, we could discuss . . . you know . . .?"

Cheshire nodded. "I was starting wonder when we'd get to that."

Speedy nodded, and gestured with his hand. "Go ahead then," said the archer. "Please."

Cheshire looked around the area, repeating Speedy's earlier check for safety. Then she looked back at the archer. "My boss is in town," she said.

Speedy's eyes widened, but he otherwise let no sign of a reaction be shown. "What's he up to?" he asked.

"Don't know the full details," Cheshire responded, briefly wincing again in discomfort from the contacts. "For some odd reason, he chose to leave me out of the overall loop on this one." She took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "But from what I've been able to covertly gather, he's mostly planning right now to attempt to see if he can find any people around here that he might find worth . . . hiring into the business."

Speedy let a brief grin come on his face at the sound of those last 4 words. He and Cheshire had already established months ago to always 'speak in code' when discussing the matters of information Cheshire had to provide for him and the Titans while in public locations, with a case in point being the restaurant they were currently at. He nodded his head, willing himself back into 'serious mode'. "Has he found anyone?"

"Two people so far," said Cheshire. "One of them I actually used to be one of my colleague in my last job." She shook her head side to side as if in annoyance over the possibility of having to work with this 'colleague' again, and with an irritated glare on her face to boot. "A whiny little dumbass named Donald Anderson."

Speedy raised his eyebrow. He most certainly did not recognize the name.

"He likes to compare himself favorably to some bigshot epitome of masculinity in Greek mythology, but really only fits the image when wearing his workout gear."

Speedy made a silent 'oh', and nodded his head, now clearly recognizing who Cheshire was talking about. "I see," he responded to confirm his understanding. "And the second?"

"Some shmuck named Todd Jameson." The Vietnamese girl shrugged. "Not really much else I can say about him to be honest; aside from the fact that he's an emo."

"Ok then?" said Speedy.

"But never mind that," Cheshire continued. She leaned forward. "Apparently, he's planning on submitting them to some form of testing before he hires them, just to see if they're worthy of the jobs he's offering them. And if they pass . . ." she took a deep breath, and then exhaled. She beckoned for Speedy to lean forward, and the archer did this. She leaned forward herself and whispered in his ear, "You and your friends could be in serious trouble."

Speedy's eyes widened. "How?" he asked, clearly feeling concerned about the safety of his friends. "Do you have any idea what he's planning?"

"Sadly, not this time." Cheshire shook her head side to side, sighing in an almost saddened tone. "I'm honestly starting to wonder if he's perhaps started to suspect me of treason and has chosen to lock me out of the loop just to test the theory."

Speedy impulsively placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Don't worry about that," said the archer. "I'm sure you're still perfectly safe."

Cheshire sighed, and hung her head. "I hope so." Then she noticed Speedy's hand on her shoulder, and a small blush came on her face. "Getting a little ahead of the game are we?" she asked teasingly.

Speedy's eyes widened, and he hurriedly withdrew his hand from her shoulder. "Sorry," he practically stammered. "Sorry about that. Really I am."

Cheshire's own eyes widened, and she looked relatively taken aback by Speedy's abrupt change in behavior. "Calm down," she managed to say. "I was just joking." She hung her head, blush now starting to somewhat return. "I actually kind of liked having your hand there now that I think about it."

Speedy mentally cursed. "Sorry," he said. He sighed. "Look, I should probably have told you this already, or maybe you already knew anyway, but I suck at romance."

Cheshire raised her eyebrow. "You're joking."

Speedy shook his head side to side. "I wish I were." He sighed. "Look, the reason I do all that bragging and get all egotistical and self-absorbed and proclaim myself at times to be a real ladies' man? That's just me trying to convince myself I'm really worth more than just what's deserved by a person with the background I have living under the shadow of the kind of man who raised me. Without all that, I really amount to nothing."

Cheshire was speechless. She was, legit, completely lost for words. She had never expected for _Speedy_ , of all people, say such things. Then she mentally steeled herself. "No," she thought to herself. "I've thought kind of thing enough times about _myself_. I _won't_ let someone else wallow away in similar thoughts." She placed her hand on one of Speedy's. "That's not true," she said. "You amount to plenty. You're better than you think you are. Honest you are."

"Don't kid yourself Mei-Mei," said Speedy, very bitterly using the false name he and Cheshire had agreed to refer to her by for today's outing. "I'm exactly as bad as I think I am. Sure I have all those many friends of mine these days, but out of all of them, only four of them have ever truly known who I was before I became . . . the person I am now. And out of all of them, only one of them was a girl, and she's the only one who, after all the time that's passed since the last time I saw her, has still never came back to me. Not even once. And what's worse, unlike my other three friends from before the team's formation, she still hasn't once actively shown affiliation with this team, not even after being given a communicator." He hung his head. "And I totally understand if what I'm about to say kills any further chances of anything developing further between us, but that girl I just mentioned, during my middle school days, long before I met you, or before Robin even formed the Titans as they currently exist, she used to be my girlfriend."

Cheshire let no outward sign of any reaction whatsoever appear. Inside, however, she briefly felt her heart stop and crack. Then she practically forced herself to shove the brief feeling of heartbreak and shock back down, and she willed herself to continue listening and stay in the restaurant with Speedy. She had a feeling the archer had more to say.

Sure enough, Speedy continued. "We had a lot of fun together; and at our young age, I thought that she was the one. But then, about a couple months after the first of my friends from my little group from back in those days ended up splitting from the group and moving away over personal issues, things went downhill from there, and eventually. . ." he sighed, "needless to say, things didn't work out between us." He hung his head once more. "And since then, I've kept my heart under heavy guard, not so much as daring to even _consider_ letting my walls down for someone else for fear of getting hurt, and in such a savage and painful way for that matter, all over again."

He looked up at Cheshire. "And quite honestly, because of that very same incident and matter of my heart, there was actually a small part of me before now that wanted so badly to discourage myself from . . . feeling . . . the way I've started to feel over the course of having you work with me as a spy; and to discourage you from potentially developing similar feelings." He hung his head again. "But now, in spite of my efforts, it's too late now. We both know that we feel too strongly now to back out; and I'm not sure if I should be happy about that, or terrified of what might happen to make me feel even worse, or just jaded in that this could end up becoming either just like, or even worse, then what I used to have with that other girl I dated before you."

For several minutes, Cheshire allowed for a respectful silence. Then she placed her hand on Speedy's shoulder. The archer lifted his head to look at her, and she directed a sympathetic smile at him. "You're better then what you think you are," she said in an almost sage-like tone. She nodded her head, seemingly to convince both herself _and_ Speedy of what she was saying. "And if I'm the only who can see that, then too bad. Heck, if that other girl can't understand that, then she can go to Hell."

Speedy felt a small smile come on his face out of a mixture of both being touched by Cheshire's being so caring and amusement of the idea of Wonder Girl in Hell. Then he heard Cheshire continue, "Believe me, I've seen you both with your mask and without it." A smile came on her face, what appeared to be small tears forming in her eyes that could have just as easily been a result of how she was genuinely feeling right now in regards to Speedy and their situation as they could have been a result of discomfort from the contact lenses. "And both times, I've seen the exact same person; a hero, and a good man."

Speedy let a small smile come on his face, but Cheshire didn't need to be a detective to see that he still didn't fully believe what she was saying, and she felt her heart sink. In that instant, she knew what she had to do. She withdrew her hands from Speedy and reached up towards her face. As Speedy watched, he was briefly confused, and then became quite surprised when he saw that Cheshire was now carefully removing her contact lenses. "Jade?" he asked, completely forgetting in his shock that he wasn't supposed to use that name. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Roy," said Cheshire as she successfully drew out one lens and set it in a case before setting to work on the second lens, "I could care less right now about blowing my cover. You clearly need a more effective means at me properly conveying my message so that you believe me. And there's only one way to provide this means." She drew out her second lens, placed it in its own case, shut the cases, and slipped them into her backpack lying on the floor next to her seat. Then she stared Speedy face to face.

For a brief moment, the blue eyes of the archer and the unnaturally green ones of the former assassin remained locked together in a passionate and longing glance at each other's respective hosts. Then Cheshire let a warm smile come on her face. "That other girl you used to date," she then said. "Did she ever . . ." she discreetly gestured at her mouth. "You know?"

Speedy shook his head. "Surprisingly enough, we never really got to that stage."

"That's good." Cheshire placed her hands on Speedy's shoulders. "I'd have really hated it if some other lucky bitch had managed to steal all the fun from me first."

Speedy's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What are you. . .?" Then his eyes widened as he finally put two and two together. For a brief moment he tensed up, then he relaxed. "Oh what the Hell," he thought to himself. "Might as well give it a shot." And indeed they did give it a shot, and found themselves quite enjoying it. In fact, they only managed to finally break away after they heard someone cough from behind Speedy, and they did so in quite an embarrassed mood that ended up increasing when they noticed that their waiter had arrived with their food.

. . . . .

"Bet you're feeling glad that I offered to take you home huh?"

Sarah sighed, and directed a half adoring and half mock annoyed smile at Cyborg. "You really didn't have to do this you know."

"I know," said Cyborg. A smile of his own came on his face. "I'm just a real gentleman like that."

Sarah's smile became a good deal more genuine after hearing that. "True enough."

In fact, Cyborg had proven himself quite adept in the field of gentleman behavior over the course of all that had gone down following the end of the scheduled time for Sarah to watch over all the kids she worked with. Immediately after all of the kids had been picked up by their parents or whoever else was able to take care of them at the time, Cyborg had wasted no time in offering Sarah a free ride home in the T-Car, all while still allowing her the chance to say no and walk home like she usually did. Sarah had taken all of five minutes to decide, through a mixture of exhaustion from all the activity that day combined with a desire and curiosity to get to know Cyborg a little more, to take the bionic local hero up on his offer. But Cyborg's show of skill hadn't ended there. Not at all. In fact, along the way to where Sarah lived, he'd even gone so far as to willingly drop by a local fast food joint to get dinner for himself and Sarah. And now, having finished eating at the restaurant, they were back in the T-Car and had now traveled half the remaining distance to Sarah's home.

"You know," said Sarah. "I'm sure I've probably already said this, but it was really nice of you to join up with me and the kids today."

"You're welcome," said Cyborg. "It was my pleasure."

Sarah chuckled. "Good thing to," she said. "Your presence really made the day for just about everyone."

"Ain't that the truth?" Cyborg asked.

"I will admit though," Sarah continued. "I still am sorry about your little scuffle with Alan today."

"Hey it's no problem," Cyborg responded, nodding his head with his eyes closed as if to convince both himself and Sarah of what he was saying. "Sometimes, disagreements like that just happen. Believe me, the fights me and BB get into over the remote control make that little argument look tame."

"I see," Sarah responded, though in a tone clearly indicating that she wasn't sure she wanted to know just how bad a simple disagreement could get among the inhabitants of Titans Tower.

Cyborg chuckled. "But never mind that," stated the bionic teen. "Now's the time to talk about good things; not bad."

Sarah's smile returned. "Definitely agree there."

Thus the two managed to spend the entire drive talking happily. In fact, they very narrowly avoided driving right past the apartment complex where Sarah lived. They were still laughing about the near miss by the time they reached the front door to the building.

When they both got themselves to stop laughing, they stood around on the front step for a while, staring at each other. Eventually, Sarah managed to say, "I guess this is goodbye?"

Cyborg nodded. "For now," he said. Then he winked. "Though it doesn't have to be for good." Then he realized how not entirely appropriate that comment may have been, and he hurriedly backtracked. "I mean, assuming you want it to be that way and all."

Sarah chuckled, and shook her head side to side, folding her arms across her chest simultaneously. "I'll have you know, I am free on weekends."

"I see," said Cyborg. He awkwardly thought to himself for about a minute. "How's Saturday?"

Sarah grinned, and poked Cyborg on the area where his heart was located. "Perfect."

"Very well," said Cyborg, and he nodded his head. "So we're good?"

"It's a date." Before Cyborg even had a chance to fully realize what she'd just said, she turned to face the door, let off a quick goodbye call, and then entered the apartment building to return to her own residence.

"Goodbye," Cyborg said in response to Sarah's farewell, just barely even aware of what he was saying as he was still trying to process what Sarah had said before entering the building. Then it finally clicked, and he found himself feeling actually quite happy, and he both smiled and chuckled as he proceeded to turn away from the door to the building and make his way over to the T-Car. "You sly dog," he thought to himself. "Looks like you've officially got yourself a girlfriend." Then he reached the T-Car, and he froze, a look of nervous despair now having taken the place of his earlier smug smile. "Oh man," he thought to himself. "Robin and BB will never let me hear the end of this when they find out."

. . . . .

At 7:30 pm, Robin and Starfire were relaxing peacefully in one of the gondolas (so to speak) of the Ferris Wheel, quite exhausted from spending virtually the entire day at the otherwise abandoned pier-based carnival. Starfire had quite a happy look on her face as she stared up at the night sky. She had very fond memories of this particular attraction. In fact, the way she saw it, that one night that she and Robin had been on this very Ferris Wheel watching a fireworks show five years ago might as well have been only the previous evening. Admittedly, that particular moment had ended on a not entirely pleasant note; but nonetheless, Starfire treasured her memory of her first time with Robin on this Ferris Wheel to this day.

"So, you enjoying yourself?"

Starfire turned her head towards Robin, smile still on her face. "I most certainly am friend," responded the Tamaranean. "And how could I not?" She gestured to the area around her and the night sky. "Here I am, at a place of great amusement, staring at a beautiful night sky, alongside my absolute dearest of friends. What's there not to enjoy?"

Robin chuckled. "Good answer."

Starfire giggled, and looked back up at the night sky. "I will admit though," she then said. "It is quite the pity that there are no fireworks this time. I'd think such an occasion would be quite meaningful considering it would be almost exactly like our first time on this very ride, though hopefully without the more unpleasant event of flying Centauri Moon police robots attempting to capture me occurring."

"Well I tried," Robin said in a playfully sarcastic tone. "But even with my best skills, I was sadly unable to get a fireworks show set up for us tonight. For that, I apologize."

Starfire giggled, and playfully swatted her boyfriend on the shoulder. "Don't be silly boyfriend wonder," said Starfire. "What you've managed is perfect enough." She pointed up at the sky, her green eyes dazzling with joy. "Besides," said the Tamaranean. "With all these stars, the night sky is already beautiful enough."

Robin chuckled. "If you say so."

Starfire then thought to herself. "You know Robin," said the alien princess. "There's something I must ask you."

"You go on ahead," said Robin. "I'm all ears."

Starfire checked the area around her to look for eavesdroppers or onlookers, purely out of force of habit. "I've noticed that you and Beast Boy seemed to be up to something over the course of the previous day. I also noticed that friend Raven seemed to be acting very strangely yesterday as well."

"Mm-hm," said Robin.

"Forgive me if I sound distrustful," said Starfire. "But is there something that you wish to tell me about all that?"

"Fear not Star," said Robin. "I'll gladly tell you." His smile widened. "After all," the Boy Wonder continued. "As of yesterday evening, I doubt there's really any need for secrecy anymore."

Starfire leaned closer to Robin. "Do tell," she said.

Robin took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Let's just say, I've been helping Beast Boy and Raven head off in the right direction."

Starfire raised her eyebrow, clearly confused. After about a minute, however, her eyes widened as she finally realized just what Robin meant. She leaned further towards Robin, now quite clearly excited. "Tell me more!" she squealed gleefully.

Robin smiled, and nodded his head. "As you wish," said the Boy Wonder.

For the next few minutes, Robin continued to calmly explain to Starfire every detail, starting with the private talk he and the changeling had undergone in the common room on the day the extension branch members had arrived, continuing on with both the second discussion from later that night and how he and Beast Boy had snuck out after all the other Titans present had either gone to sleep or likewise departed the Tower and worked together to get things set up, and then the entirety of the plan that had unfolded the previous day. "And in light of how Raven and Beast Boy appear to have gone and spent the entire day as planned without any drama or hassle, I guess it's safe to assume that the last stage of the plant worked out just as smoothly as the other stages," Robin finished.

Starfire squealed in delight once more, her eyes closed and her fists raised up towards her face as if in celebration. "This is glorious news! At long last, they've finally gotten together!"

"Someone sure seems to have been a strong shipper on deck," said Robin.

"Oh I've been that way since our encounter with the Puppet King," said Starfire. "It warms my heart so that after so many years since, they may yet have finally become a couple just like I was so strongly hoping!"

Robin whistled. "You were really supportive of the idea of them dating that long ago?"

"Mm-hm," said Starfire. "And I am the proud to admit it."

"Oh . . . kay then," Robin managed to say.

Starfire giggled, and then leaned back against her seat in the Ferris Wheel compartment, smile still on her face. "Oh I cannot think of anything that could possibly make me any happier then I already am."

"Um yeah, about that," Robin began.

The sound of a large whizzing from somewhere in front of them interrupted the Boy Wonder and caused both of the Ferris Wheel's riders to direct their heads towards the direction of the sound; just in time to see what looked like a small blue and silver chrome titanium alloy rocket zooming up into the air. After reaching a position at which it was about the exact same height as the area directly in front of Robin and Starfire's faces, the device exploded into a beautiful burst of what looked like blue flames and smoke.

While the colorful blast was still present in the sky, time seemed to stop for the couple. Starfire gaped in a mixture of shock and joy while Robin had a smile that appeared half giddy and half relieved. The explosion faded away, only to then be promptly replaced in the sky with a rapid fire series of similar rocket-like devices soaring up into the sky and brilliantly exploding in spectacular fashion into bursts of vibrantly colored smoke and fire. Clearly, a fireworks display was going on.

After about the 27th or so round of fireworks going off, Starfire managed to regain her voice. "Robin," said the Tamaranean in a mixture of shock and delight. "I thought you said that there would no fireworks here this evening."

"Really?" said the Boy Wonder in a slightly mischievous tone. "Last I recall; I do believe I said that I was merely unable to set up a fireworks show." He pointed in the direction of the fireworks just in time for yet another round of rockets to start going skyward. "But as you can see from the metal those rockets are built from, Cyborg was able to do me a very sweet favor."

Starfire felt a blush come on her face, gazing adoringly at her boyfriend. Robin also smiled, happy that Starfire appeared to be enjoying his little surprise that had sprung from, in his mind, a quite clever half-truth.

Starfire abruptly leaned towards Robin and gave him a big hug. Robin's smile widened, not even caring at how his girlfriend's embrace was as borderline suffocating as ever.

"Thank you," said Starfire. "With all my heart, thank you."

Robin chuckled, a considerable feat of endurance considering he could barely breath. "You're welcome Star."

Star let go of Robin and pulled back a little, half adoring and half on the verge of joyous tears smile still on her face. She sniffled, wiped her eyes, and then looked back towards the still firework filled sky. "This is truly the best day of Valentine's I have ever had; and for that, I couldn't be happier, or more proud, to spend it alongside you Robin."

Robin found himself blushing a little at the praise. He quite honestly couldn't have now felt any happier. "Thanks Star."

Starfire, still smiling, leaned over to her right, resting her head on Robin's left shoulder in the process. And thus she remained positioned this way while continuing to watch the fireworks show, sighing in content. Robin smiled at the circumstances. He had to admit, very rarely had he ever felt half as happy as he was currently feeling. "Life truly has brightened up for me since my departure from Gotham City," he thought to himself.

Starfire sighed in a mixture of tiredness and content, smile still on her face as ever. "I love you," she said in such a low tone that Robin was just barely able to hear it.

Robin smiled. "I love you to Star. I love you to." And indeed he did. And in that moment, he hardly dared think about anything else. Heck, he could care less at that particular moment about the very disturbingly real danger he was still currently at risk of undergoing on the first day of January next year. Right now, all that mattered was himself, and the gorgeous Tamaranean princess sitting next to him with her head on his shoulder, watching the spectacular fireworks show that Cyborg had made possible within the otherwise abandoned amusement park that he himself had allowed to be open to himself and his girlfriend one last time just for them.

. . . . .

At 8:00 pm., Raven and Beast Boy finally walked out the zoo's gate, finished with their visit. Beast Boy was still happily smiling, for he'd had quite a lot of fun; and in fact considerably more fun then he'd been expecting to have after the crushing apparent revelations of the previous night. Raven also had a slight happy look of her own on her face. She'd actually had quite a lot of fun herself. She had legitimately found herself quite surprised at just how knowledgeable Beast Boy had been about all the animals. "I guess he must have actually been paying attention while reading that Smithsonian Complete Encyclopedia of Animals yesterday," she thought to herself. Plus, she also had to admit, and she was sure Beast Boy agreed, it wasn't every evening that she got treated to an incidental late night serenading from lions and hyenas.

"Wasn't that fun?"

Raven rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. "Leave it to Beast Boy to cut to the chase," she thought to herself. She turned around to face him. "Normally I'd avoid commenting the way I'm about to comment to avoid the risk of your head getting any bigger than it already tends to be. But this time, you've earned the right for me to boost your ego a little. And I will admit, for once, I actually had quite a lot of fun hanging out with you."

Beast Boy chuckled, not at all insulted by the somewhat more negative aspects of Raven's response. "Glad to hear that Rae."

Raven mentally sighed. "By Azar," she thought to herself. "Now that ridiculous pet name is starting to get endearing to." At the same time as her annoyance though, she also felt a small part of her thinking that this detail wasn't really a bad thing either.

Then Beast Boy yawned. Raven directed a glare at the changeling, her face clearly screaming a silent 'really?'.

Beast Boy let a nervous grin of sheepishness come on his face. "Sorry," said the changeling. "I guess I must have really tired myself out today more than I realized."

"It's ok Beast Boy," said Raven. She nodded her head, just barely fighting the urge to yawn herself. She checked the time on her communicator. "I guess it's probably about time to head back to the tower anyway." And at that point, she legitimately was willing to go back to the tower. She was certainly tired enough right now. Plus, she also had a feeling that, having spent so much time with Beast Boy today, he deserved to be accompanied back home. And with that in mind, she also had a feeling that her new acquaintance from the previous night wouldn't mind having to reschedule to meet up with her another day. "I'm sure he'll understand," she thought to herself.

Then the two chromatically challenged teens both heard their communicators go off. Purely on reflex, they drew out the devices and checked to see what the alert was for, and groaned upon realizing just what the reason was. Turns out, Robin and Starfire themselves were on the way home from their own date. But as of sometime recent, they had managed to come across a group of bikers who now were a little overly keen on spending quality time with the Titans' power couple, particularly with Star. And over the course of the encounter that was apparently now going on, Starfire, understandably nervous, had now sent a text to call the other founders over for backup.

Beast Boy sighed. "Man," he groaned. "Trouble around here's always got the worst timing." He hung his head, sighing once more. "Well, guess duty calls."

Raven placed her hand on his shoulder, and he looked up to face her, a confused look on his face. Raven shook her head side to side. "Don't worry about that right now," said the sorceress. She nodded her head up and down at the changeling. "Cyborg and I can give them more than enough backup for this case."

Beast Boy raised his eyebrow. "I'm not sure if Robin would really be all that keen on any of us playing hooky for a moment like this."

"Yeah well, Robin can suck it this time. Right now, you're fit to drop. I can tell. You clearly need sleep right now." She placed her other hand on the changeling's other shoulder, still staring intently at him eye to eye. "Besides," the sorceress continued, "Starfire's the one who issued the alert. I'm sure she'll understand; and if she understands, then Robin will definitely let you off the hook for leaving us to handle this situation without you."

Beast Boy was momentarily about to argue, but then he let out another yawn, and this one was considerably stronger than his earlier yawn. "Hooboy," he said to himself. "You know what, you're right. Maybe it is better I go back to the tower right now. I could really use some sleep."

"I knew you'd see reason this time."

Raven removed her hands from Beast Boy's shoulders. "Well, I guess this is good night. See you tomorrow?"

Beast Boy grinned. "See you tomorrow."

Raven nodded, and then took to the air, levitating off in search of Robin and Starfire's location. Beast Boy sighed, shook his head side to side with his tired smile still on his face. Without saying a word, he morphed into an owl, a great horned owl to be exact, and took the air himself, but heading in the direction opposite Raven, towards the tower.

After what felt like hours to the exhausted changeling, he finally made it back to the Titans Tower island. He flew all the way up to the front door, and only then did he revert back to human form. He straightened up, stretching and sighing in exhaustion at the same time. Then he walked up closer to the door, more than ready to enter in the code necessary to summon the elevator that would lead up into the proper living space areas of the tower, and therefore the area where his bed was located. "High time I got back here," he said out loud to himself, still clearly tired.

"Indeed it is."

Beast Boy's eyes widened, and his tiredness seemingly became a thing of the distant past. The Beast had just now spoken for the first time since the last triumphant comment it had made the previous day before the unexpected screw up of the late night rendezvous. "Wha . . . why are you awake?!"

"No need to worry about that," the Beast said. "You need sleep? Go ahead and sleep. I'll take care of everything."

"What are you . . .?"

Without any warning at all, the changeling abruptly blacked out, and the top half of his body leaned forward and slumped over, his arms dangling down with the tips of his gloved fingers just barely touching the ground. Then the changeling suddenly straightened back up in an almost robotic fashion, his eyes now open to reveal that they now looked disturbingly more like those of a cat than those of a human, all the way down to being amber yellow instead of the usual green, and with slit-like pupils to boot.

"It is time," spoke a deep gravelly voice from Beast Boy's mouth. In a still seemingly quite robotic fashion, the changeling entered in the code and entered the elevator.

 **Oh dear. This doesn't look good now does it? On the bright side though, I'm sure you're all bound to look extra forward to the next chapter (which I shall remind you all now, will become available for you all to read once A: I have finished writing it and B: I have received at least 1 review for this current chapter)! That being said, once again, I really do hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! As long as it took for me to finish it, I quite enjoyed writing it! :) And quite frankly, I hope you all like what I had each of the Titans in Jump City be up to this Valentine's Day. And please, do feel free to comment on them (heck, on each and every individual one if you so desire ;). I'd greatly appreciate it.) And on that note, I might as well get a few things out of the way.**

 **A: Yeah, so I had Kilowatt now be referred to by Melvin, Timmy, and Teether as their new honorary uncle. The way I see it, since Raven's been developing a somewhat strong friendship (and that's all that will be between them mind you) with Kilowatt, I'm sure it would only make sense for her 'kids' to likewise somewhat consider Kilowatt a member of their 'family'. And as for that character he and Bushido mentioned named Tengu? Look him up. He's a** ** _very_** **nasty character from Bushido's past, as very conveniently revealed in what they said about him here.**

 **B: I will admit, I personally thought it would be funny if at least one pair of Titans ended up at a bar. And that being said, you may also notice that I had the first half of this particular date unfold in a way not entirely all that different from a certain scene between John Stewart and Hawkgirl in the Justice League Episode Comfort and Joy (in which, as per Hawkgirl's personal definition of a 'celebration', they end up getting involved in an epic bar fight on some bar on a far out planet) complete with having Pantha bang on that one guy's hand with a wrench much the same way Hawkgirl pounded some luckless alien's hand with her mace before then handing the weapon over to her unwitting pawn boyfriend just before the battle started with the victim striking a blow at the unwitting pawn. So yeah, pretty nice huh?**

 **C: The way I see it, Gnark would be both happy for Kole since she is basically like a sister to him, yet also concerned about what effect this could have on his own relationship with her. And really, what kind of brother wouldn't feel that way? And do feel free to let me know if you have trouble interpreting just what Gnark is trying to say when he has his little 'talk' with Kole.**

 **D: I certainly hope you enjoyed the Hotgent segments of this chapter, and apologize if I made anyone cry alongside Argent during the part in which they have their little talk about their old friend Cody. That being said, feel free to look up 'Cody Driscoll DC' so that any of you who don't know what I'm talking about will get an idea as to just who this guy actually is and how much of a good friend he actually is to Hotspot and Argent.**

 **E: I have to admit that the Flinx segments of this chapter were one of my favorites. And answer me this, were any of you surprised that Wally actually** ** _did_** **manage to sit through the entire magic show this time?**

 **F: I apologize in advance if I made Bumblebee sound overly mean in the way she handled Mas and Menos during the first half of the HeraldBee segment of this chapter.**

 **G: The Aquaterra segment of this chapter was yet another strong favorite of mine, and I really hope you enjoy my hard work in writing this one up. Believe me, as far as I can tell, this ship still doesn't get enough love. And while we're at it, you'd best make a note of Terra's acceptance of Aqualad's offer to visit Atlantis with him. Later down the line, this information could prove quite important for you all to remember.**

 **H: I also hope that I did a good job with the Cheshiroy segments and that I wrote them and their developing relationship in a realistic manner. And while I'm at it, for those of you who don't know, yes, Speedy used to date Donna Troy, the first Wonder Girl, in both the original comics and (per my vision for this series) in the DCTTAU.**

 **I: The Cysarah segment was yet another favorite of mine! And that being said, I do hope you paid especially good attention to the argument between Cy and Alan during the beginning of the first half. No joke, that argument was almost entirely word for word from Issue 3 of Teen Titans Go (the GOOD Teen Titans Go, not the piece of shit that's even now still running around scot free on Cartoon Network). And yeah, as of this moment in the DCTTAU, Cyborg officially has a girlfriend.**

 **J: I ESPECIALLY hope you all enjoyed the Robstar segments of this chapter (yet another favorite of mine). And that being said, I'm also sure you likely noticed the nod I made to their eventful time at this very amusement park during the 'Sisters' episode. On another note, yeah, according to the wiki, the familiar amusement park at the Jump City Pier has reportedly been abandoned and closed down. But thankfully Robin was able to undo that status for at least this one day, just for Starfire, and all thanks to help from Cyborg in setting up the fireworks, and Robin himself managing to pay for the necessary other stuff with some funds he managed to 'borrow' from Batman.**

 **K: And finally, I hope you very much enjoyed the BBRae segments (yet another favorite of mine Goddammit!) of this chapter. And yeah, I personally believe that, when he's not fooling around, Beast Boy is actually pretty knowledgeable about animals of all kinds, and would quite enjoy the chance to spout off his knowledge at zoos and other places where animals are on display. And I might as well mention, that mentioning of Beast Boy and Raven getting 'serenaded' by lions and hyenas? Believe it or not, that happened to me once when I went on a late night tour of the Honolulu Zoo while living in Hawaii! Pretty sweet huh? (And that being said, feel free to ask me the order and list of animals/exhibits at the Jump City Zoo (as per my personal canon for this series to fit my vision for the DCTTAU) if any of you just happen to be curious about that.)**

 **Well, now that all that's out of the way, it's high time I leave for the time being. Right now, in the area/timezone where I currently live, I** ** _REALLY_** **should be in bed asleep right now (and am starting to feel just as tired as Beast Boy believe it or not). That being said, once again, I hope you enjoyed reading this long awaited chapter! And again, I very strongly advise that someone among you leave an absolute minimum of** ** _1_** **review for this chapter. If I finish writing the next chapter and I still don't have even one review for this current chapter, then I guess I'll just have to wait until some lucky reader has the sense to fulfill this requirement, now won't I? Anyway, here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy!**

 **Coming up Next: Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven finally arrive home after the unpleasant business with the bikers has gotten all taken care of. Unfortunately, upon reaching the Tower, they soon find themselves arriving to a** ** _very_** **angry Bushido, plus another** ** _extremely unpleasant_** **surprise within the tower. And over the course of the discovery of said surprise, dots are connected that lead to more than one horrified revelation and a very real need to set more than a few matters straight. Sound exciting? I certainly hope so!**


	11. An Unwelcome Surprise

**Hello everybody! Guess what?! A new chapter! And it's been only 4 days since the last one so double awesome! ^_^ And as you'll soon notice, this one's a heck of a lot shorter than the real monster of a chapter I posted last time. Anyway, here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy! In this chapter, the other four founding Titans arrive back to the tower in time to find that a very unpleasant surprise has been set up for them to come home to in the time between Beast Boy's own arrival back home and their arrival. And soon after this discovery is made, the dots are connected to unveil and even more horrid revelation for the four founders, particularly for the two 'Birds' of the Titans. Sound exciting? I certainly hope so!**

 **A/N: Just before we get started, I shall remind you all once more that I do not own Teen Titans. Now; onward with the fic people!**

 **Chapter 10:**

 **An Unwelcome Surprise**

Bushido couldn't get the wide smile off of his face. Quite frankly, he was surprised he actually had it on his face at all. "So this is what it's like to have fun," the teenage samurai warrior thought to himself. At that particular moment, he was in the midst of none other than reading through a sizeable collection of manga books. For at least an hour after Kilowatt's departure that morning, the young samurai warrior had trained in the gym. After that, he had then spent the next few hours dedicatedly working on his efforts to research and find out where Tengu was in his personal quest to find the terrible demon and somehow get justice for what had happened to his mom, only stopping once for lunch.

Then, at around dinner time, he'd finally managed to force himself to put away all his supplies involved in his work on his personal case. At this rate, he definitely wasn't going to make any further progress then he'd already made over the last few times he'd worked on the case. And besides, he knew that neither Kilowatt, nor his mother, would approve of him wasting the entire day and night on work. But it wasn't until he'd finished his dinner that he'd finally managed to find a means with which to entertain himself that didn't involve training or working on his Tengu case. By sheer luck, Beast Boy had managed to leave a large pile of books from his manga collection. To be more specific, the changeling had managed to leave every volume he owned so far of the Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, and Fairy Tail franchises in the common room. Realizing how the stories had been created in Japan and how he himself had never really had the chance before to read any manga or watch any anime himself, he had decided that Beast Boy probably wouldn't mind if he read the books in his collection for at least today, if not more. And so, he had started with the first Naruto volume, and was even now still hard at work in reading through the entire Naruto series.

"And I must admit," he thought to himself, "I can actually quite see the appeal in this story; and I'm a _samurai_." In fact, as he was quite happy to note, he had just now finished reading what he now knew for a fact was _definitely_ his all-time favorite chapter in the series so far; Chapter 437, Confession. "Thank Kami Hinata finally confessed to him," he thought to himself. "Boy, from the way Naruto's reacting right now, Pain is so dead."

He heard the doors to the common room open, and he reflexively turned his head in their direction, his hands just as instinctively dropping the book and grabbing onto the hilt of his sword. "Who's there!?"

Nobody answered, and from his current position, neither did Bushido see anyone. After what felt like an eternity to the alerted teenage samurai, Bushido finally relaxed. "Oh, probably nothing," he said to himself. He let go of his sword, chuckling in a self-deprecating manner at his apparent bout of paranoia. "Man," he whispered, "I'm even more tensed up and out of touch with having fun than I thought." He chuckled again. "I really need to loosen up more. Heck, I should have started having more fun months, maybe even years, ago."

Turning his head back to where he'd dropped the book he'd been reading, Bushido picked the volume back up and resumed his reading of chapter 438, eager to see just how the battle that he knew was sure to unfold after Pain's severely wounding Hinata would go down. For the next few minutes, without a single sound coming up to interrupt his focus, Bushido found himself once again absorbed into the story, and cheering the eponymous protagonist on as he proceeded to whup Pain's ass in first his six-tailed form, then seven-tailed, and then eight-tailed. "Oh boy, things are definitely getting serious now," he thought to himself, a wide smile on his face. "This is getting so awesome!"

He heard what sounded like something heavy and metallic being lifted up from behind him, along with what sounded like a massive clattering, and he tensed up in both alarm and confusion. Before he even had a chance to turn his head, he felt something hard pound him on the back of his head, and within seconds, he blacked out, and was unconscious before he even lost his grip on the book, let alone hit the floor.

Beast Boy stood before the unconscious Bushido, spinning the large frying pan he'd just knocked out the young samurai with in his hand counterclockwise. Except it wasn't 100% Beast Boy. Rather, it was the Beast controlling the changeling's body without yet allowing its full true form to surface, and only its yellow cat-like eyes currently visible to indicate its presence. "One obstacle out of the way," said the Beast in its distinctive deep raspy voice. He looked down at the downed Bushido. "Time to get to work." He grabbed the unconscious samurai by the ankles and dragged him across the floor through the doors leading out of the common room.

. . . . .

"Thanks for the assist guys. Star and I really needed it."

Cyborg chuckled. "Happy to have helped you out buddy." He flexed his left arm proudly. "I certainly ain't gonna let no asshat street maggots screw around with my sistahs."

"Flattering to know," said Raven in such a deadpan tone that absolutely no one could tell whether or not she was joking.

"Indeed it is friend Raven," said Starfire in her usual happy tone, clearly either oblivious to the tone Raven had used, or choosing to believe that she was serious. Her eyes then took on a slight saddened look. "I will admit though," said the Tamaranean. "It was a pity Beast Boy wasn't able to show up."

"Hey don't worry Star," said Robin. "I'm sure if he hadn't been anywhere near as tired as Raven says he was by the time she and him got your message, he'd have come swooping in right alongside Raven."

"I can certainly see that happening," Raven droned.

"Damn straight you can," said Cyborg. He chuckled.

"Something funny Cyborg?" Robin asked.

"Not really," Cyborg said in a half casual and half teasing tone, a cheeky grin on his face. Truth was, unknown to Robin, the half robot teenage hero had placed a bug in his communicator that had allowed him to overhear everything the Boy Wonder had told Starfire about the plan that had been enacted over the course of the previous day to get Beast Boy and Raven to pair up together. And he was quite pleased.

"Whatever you're thinking," said Raven, "I'm sure you won't be feeling nearly as happy about it once Robin and Beast Boy learn about how you're officially no longer single."

Cyborg's eyes widened, and he came to an abrupt stop in his walking. The other three Titans present also stopped walking.

Robin seemed likewise caught off guard by Raven's statement, as did Starfire. "What was that?" Robin asked.

"Nothing," said Cyborg meekly.

Raven rolled her eyes at Cyborg's weak defense, and looked over at Robin and Starfire, an almost comically deadpan look on her face "Oh nothing," she said. "Just the fact that, apparently, things went quite well today between Cyborg and his new friend Ms. Simms, and that the two of them will be hanging out together without the kids this Saturday, and they are basically dating now." A small smirk came on her face. "And before you ask where I got that information, Cyborg told me himself when we happened to bump into each other on the way to helping you out."

"You weren't supposed to tell Robin about that!" Cyborg yelled.

"Yeah well, consider it poetic justice."

"For what?!"

"One word; stankball."

Cyborg slumped his shoulders. "You've gotta be kidding! It's been _three_ years since that one time! Give me a break!"

"So," said Robin. "You've officially got yourself a girlfriend now huh?"

Cyborg's heart dropped, and he mentally groaned. He turned his head to face Robin, a slight grimace on his face now. "I'll never hear the end of it now will I?"

"No you will not." Robin grinned. "But not until A: Beast Boy is made aware of this and B: you and Sarah have finished your date this coming Saturday." Cyborg's heart only sank lower upon hearing how the torture to come would now only be prolonged further.

Starfire giggled, and placed her hands on Robin's shoulders from behind. "Come friends! We must get back home and tell Beast Boy immediately!"

"Star," said Raven. "Are you not aware of how Beast Boy is likely asleep, and was ready to drop when I left him at the tower?"

Starfire's face fell. "Oh yes," said the Tamaranean. "I forgot."

Robin placed his hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. "It's alright Star," said the Boy Wonder. "We can tell him tomorrow." He looked over at Raven and Cyborg. "But even so, we'd best be getting back to the tower. The sooner we all get home and get some shut eye, the better. As for the others; they should all be capable of handling their respective night plans without us helping."

"Copy that," said Cyborg. He turned around and started walking away. "I'll be going back to where I left the T-Car now.

Robin nodded his head, and then looked over at Raven. "What about you?"

Raven looked up to the sky, and then back at the Titans' fearless leader. "I'll fly." She took to the air and started slowly levitating back the way she'd come.

No sooner had Raven left his sight range and he'd heard the T-Car start up, Robin turned to face Starfire, smile on his face. "So," said the Boy Wonder. "Shall we resume our ride home?"

. . . . .

When the four teens arrived home, at 9:00 sharp, they couldn't have felt more relieved to have finally returned to the Tower. In fact, they even went so far as to leave the R-Cycle and T-Car parked right outside on the island with their alarms still on and set to maximum volume. They were that tired. But at the same time, they were also happy to be home, and to have had such an enjoyable day.

As the four teens made their way up towards the front door, they all allowed themselves to relax, clearly anticipating their warm beds awaiting them. But as tired as they all were, Robin and Starfire were still able to link arms and walk side by side even as Cyborg and Raven managed to start outpacing them by a good couple feet or two. They were that happy.

Raven was the first to reach the door, and she even let a small yawn escape her lips as she reached towards the keypad designed for entering in the code. "I daresay it's high time for a good night's sleep," she thought to herself as she started pressing on the first of the buttons.

But then the elevator doors suddenly opened before Raven had even pressed the fourth button needed, and she stepped back in shock. The other three Titans were also surprised at the elevator doors unexpectedly opened, and they reared back in shock as well.

The door opened up completely, and out stepped none other than Bushido. At the sight of the young samurai, Cyborg very noticeably relaxed. "Oh hey there Bushido. Nice to see you're here. How is everything?" The other three Titans, however, noticed the very angry look on Bushido's face, how ominously tensed up his body was, his clenched fists, and the angry and resolute way he was moving, and remained very much on guard.

Bushido came to a stop inches away from Robin, his face clearly showing how close he was to flat out exploding in anger. "WHAT'S IT GONNA TAKE FOR YOU TO BE ABLE TO KEEP THAT MONSTER UNDER CONTROL?!"

Robin reared back, understandably stunned by how Bushido had just now leaned his head right up in his face and shouted at him like that. Then he managed to regain his voice. "Monster?" Robin asked. "What are you talking about?"

Bushido growled. "You know perfectly well what I'm talking about! That green incredible hulk werewolf monstrosity, that's what!"

"What?!" Raven yelled. She knew very well exactly what Bushido was referring to.

"Well thank God someone knows what I'm referring to right now!" Bushido growled, turning his head to glare at the sorceress.

Cyborg glared at Bushido, and Starfire looked as if one half of her was still too stunned to speak while the other half was nervous and uncertain what to do. Robin, still somewhat dazed, managed to say, "Wha . . . what did he do?"

Bushido snapped his head to face Robin once more. "What did he do?!" the teenage samurai asked. "What did he do?!"

. . . . .

"This is what he did!"

The four founding Titans gaped in shock at what Bushido was showing, 100% speechless, white-faced, wide-eyed, and jaws gaping. They absolutely could not think of any words to say to convey the shock and horror of what they were now seeing.

They were currently standing in front of the main entrance to the common room; or more accurately, the entrance to what was left of the common room. To call it a mess would have been the understatement of the _eon_. The entire room looked as if 50 tornadoes with giant swords and battle axes sticking out at every inch had been unceremoniously jammed into the area, had busted the entire room apart, and then allowed it to be put back together in such a haphazard way that even a neanderthal could have done a better job at fixing it, only to then be double destroyed immediately afterward by twice as many earthquakes and repaired after that in an even worse fashion.

Apart from the windows and ceiling, there was not a single inch or object within the room that wasn't damaged in some way or other. The floor and carpet was riddled helter-skelter with slashes and claw marks. A mountain of stuffing and four wooden legs were all that remained of the sofa. The walls were set in a horrific web of cracks and what looked like impact craters the size of large fists. The screens of every single one of the super computers had been emphatically shattered and the key boards had been violently disconnected and smashed into pieces. The cabinets had all had their doors ripped out, and the contents had all been thrown out and lay across the floor, with all the breakable ones shattered beyond repair. A tumbleweed of tiny pieces of ripped up paper was all that remained of the calendar. The refrigerator had been ripped out from its position and smashed to bits, and all the food was scattered all across the chaos that remained of the common room. Everything else in the room was likewise in a horrific state of messiness and disrepair. Not even the Valentine's Day decorations had been spared from the terrible wrath of the monster that had apparently rampaged through the common room. But out of all of them, the impossible to forget piñata-like decoration designed in the likeness of a pair of mating Ishtarian cloud serpents appeared to be the most luckless. Clearly, from the way that it had been so utterly ripped up and destroyed that it wasn't even recognizable until all the other decorations apart from it had been accounted for, the Beast had torn into it with a vengeance.

For a brief moment, Cyborg stepped forward, seemingly in a daze over just how horridly damaged and messed up the common room had been rendered. Then he felt something snap and crack under his left foot. He looked down, instinctively lifting his foot at the same time. His eyes widened again at the sight that lay below him.

"Yo!" Cyborg yelled, yanking up the object he'd just unwittingly stepped on. The object in question appeared to be a game station controller, but with a massive chunk of it bitten out of the middle, leaving only a small sliver of the top and side sections of the device intact. "He bit my controller!"

"How do you know it's yours?" Robin asked.

"He didn't," said Bushido. "Just a lucky guess."

Cyborg looked at the teenage samurai. "And you know this how?"

"Because I woke up in the place he stuffed the majority of everyone else's possessions," said Bushido. He rubbed the back of his head, wincing in pain. "I was minding my own business reading when he sneaked in here and knocked me out. When I woke up, I found myself in some creepy mojo holding cell type thing, and there was a crap load of possessions and that weird worm thing you guys keep as a pet locked in there with me."

"Silkie." Starfire turned her head to face Bushido. "Where is he now?"

"In your room."

Bushido gestured off towards the corridor outside the common room. "I managed to have him moved over there; albeit, after I both managed to get out of the room we were already in and then managed to shut down the lockdown mode he'd somehow managed to set your room in."

"Say what?" said Robin.

"You heard me," said Bushido. He folded his arms across his chest. "He set every room in the tower apart from the common room on emergency lockdown. And as you can see," he gestured at the overall area around him, "he chose to let the common room and everything he deemed not worthy of storing into a safe haven be fair game."

"I can see that," said Raven, still feeling somewhat numb at the sight of the damage that had been done to the common room.

"Yeah no kidding," said Cyborg, who was now glaring at a large pile of DVD cases that had been snapped in half and the glass that remained of all the discs that had been inside them. In fact, now that he thought about it . . . "You Bushido. Just how many of us have personal possessions that he's now destroyed?"

"Well to be honest," said Bushido. "After very thoroughly looking through the tower," he winced, clearly on the verge of saying something that he was sure Cyborg would not like hearing. "I hate to tell you this but, out of every Titan present, you were the only one whose personal belongings he didn't seem to bother trying to store away in a safe spot before he rampaged."

Cyborg dropped the damaged controller, a half annoyed and half angry look on his face. "So you're saying that he made sure to store everyone else's things in a place where they'd be safe, yet dismissed _my_ stuff as unimportant?"

"Everything that was still in this room yes," Bushido responded.

Cyborg face palmed, growling angrily. "Good God man." He lowered his hand, sighing in half anger and half exhaustion. "Good grief, what the heck is the matter with him?"

"I was hoping I could ask you guys the same," Bushido commented dryly.

Robin held up his hands to the sides. "Everyone, let's just try to calm down; and maybe we could see if we can view the security footage."

"Good luck with that," said Bushido. He pointed over at the damaged super computers. "As you can see, the computers around here are in no position to help us."

"He left the TV untouched," said Robin. He walked on over to the area nearby the bottom of the TV where a computer-like device was located. This device, thankfully, was undamaged. "And this computer we have hear allows us to use it as a computer as well as a television." He activated the TV-based computer, and from there accessed security footage. Bushido and the three founders present alongside Robin hurriedly gathered around behind him to view the footage with him.

The footage Robin chose began at the moment Beast Boy, in great horned owl form, arrived at the outside of the tower. As the five teen heroes watched Beast Boy walk revert back to human form and then walk tiredly over to the front door, Starfire noticed that there appeared to be no sound. "Can you turn up the volume?"

"Oh sorry," said Robin. He deactivated the mute; just in time for when the Beast Boy on the screen reached the front door and prepared himself to enter in the access code.

"High time I got back here," they heard Beast Boy say in a clearly tired tone. Then about a minute later, Beast Boy suddenly reared back, his eyes widened, as if he'd heard something. But just what he'd heard, if anything, was not something that the other Titans could hear.

Bushido raised his eyebrow. "What the heck . . .?"

"Shush," hissed Raven.

"Wha . . . why are you awake!?"

"Why's who awake?" Bushido asked.

"The Beast," Raven responded. "He must have heard it speak to him."

"What are you . . .?" they then heard Beast Boy. They turned their heads back to the screen just in time to see the changeling, without warning, abruptly slump over, his arms dangling down with the tips of his fingers just barely touching the ground. The Titans watching all leaned over to get a closer look, all of them clearly alarmed and concerned.

"What's going on?" Bushido asked. "What's happening?"

"Keep watching," said Raven, her voice indicating that she had a bad feeling what was about to happen. Robin noticed this, but chose to keep silent for the moment.

Then Beast Boy very slowly straightened back up to full upright position, but in a very disturbingly robotic fashion, and then his eyes opened . . . except now they weren't truly his eyes. They were the cat-like amber yellow eyes of the Beast.

Bushido's own eyes widened at the sight of this. "Woah."

"Shush," hissed Robin and Raven simultaneously.

"It is time," said Beast Boy, but in a disturbingly deep and raspy gravelly voice. As the five assembled Titans continued to watch, the Beast Boy on the screen, still moving in a very robotic fashion, entered in the code and walked into the elevator.

"See if we can find him on the other cameras after that," said Raven.

Robin complied, and he accessed the common room camera. For the next few minutes, the five teens watched the next few events unfold on screen. It started with simply watching Bushido reading the manga books and enjoying himself, then briefly get his attention attracted by the main doors opening. However, what Bushido only managed to see now by watching the security footage, was a green house cat quietly crawling into the room as if stalking prey. As the five teens continued to watch, the green cat reverted back to Beast Boy after Bushido had turned his head back to focus on the book once more, tiptoed over to the kitchen before coming to a stop directly behind Bushido; at which point he'd grabbed onto the handle of a frying pan, very noisily drawn it up into the air, and right as Bushido had just managed to tense up in surprise and alarm, very emphatically slam the teenage samurai on the back of the head with the bottom of the pan. Bushido winced at the sight of the attack, and so did the other four Titans. "That had to have hurt," said Cyborg.

"Oh it most certainly did," said Bushido.

"One obstacle out of the way," spoke the voice of the Beast. Beast Boy's head lowered down to directly face the downed teenage samurai. "Time to get to work," said the Beast. As the Titans continued to watch, the Beast Boy on the screen grabbed Bushido by the ankles and dragged him out of the common room.

Robin hurriedly activated all the security camera footage at once. Thus the five teens watching were able to watch every minute of the events that unfolded from Beast Boy dragging the unconscious Bushido over to none other than the safety chamber they'd designed for Raven two years prior and leaving him in there, to him proceeding to carefully move every personal belonging within the common room that didn't belong to Cyborg from the common room to whatever room he believed they belonged in ranging from a bedroom to the safety chamber. He even went so far as to apparently telepathically convince Silkie into going into the safety chamber. Then, they watched the Beast controlled Beast Boy return to the common room after sorting everything out and set every room in the tower apart from the common room onto emergency lockdown mode. Then Beast Boy's body came to a stop in the very center of the common room, took a deep breath, and exhaled. "And now," spoke Beast Boy in the voice of the Beast. "I shall finally unleash my pent up rage from the previous night." Beast Boy barred his teeth, his yellow eyes now dangerously narrowed. "And sometime later," he then snarled, "I shall find and punish the unworthy scum that has stolen my host's rightful mate!"

In a flash, Beast Boy explosively took on the complete form of the Beast; which then roared, and lunged over at the sofa. And thus, the five teens watched in stunned shock as the entire rampage that they'd only just witnessed the aftermath of unfolded before their very eyes on the security camera screen. As they watched, even Raven couldn't help but wince as the entire nightmarish spectacle unfolded. Cyborg whistled at one point, and shook his head side to side. "Dang," he said to himself. "He must have been really pissed off to get this extreme."

At one point, the Beast began to climb up a wall towards the ceiling, and appeared to somehow remain above the floor, snarling and roaring the entire time. Robin's eyes narrowed as he watched this part of the show. "What the heck was he doing up so high?"

"Um friends," said Starfire. The other four Titans looked at Starfire, who was looking up and pointing towards the ceiling. "What is that?"

The other four teens looked up, and saw the result of the Beast's apparent time up on the ceiling. Viciously carved onto the ceiling were what appeared to be a mass string of very mystical and unearthly looking runes. Raven's eyes widened seconds after seeing these runes. She recognized them. "Those . . . those are Azarathian runes." She lowered her head, quite clearly stunned at this unexpected turn of events. "How on Earth did he know what any of them meant?"

"Can you translate?"

Raven nodded, but then looked over at Bushido out of the corner of her eyes, her facial expression now indicating that she wasn't entirely comfortable with doing so in front of the teenage samurai.

Robin caught on. "Hey Bushido," said the Boy Wonder. "Can you look around the tower and see if you can find Beast Boy?"

"Um," said Bushido. He thought to himself. "Sure, I'll go see if I can find him."

"Try not to hurt him too bad if you find him," said Cyborg. "It wasn't his fault all this happened. That thing you just saw was controlling him."

"I'll try my best," said Bushido. "But I'm not promising anything."

The teenage samurai left the common room and made his way deep within the undamaged parts of the tower. Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg all looked over at Raven, who looked back up at the runes clawed onto the ceiling. She narrowed her eyes, concentrating intently on the message that the Beast had sliced upon the ceiling. "Hello," Raven said, reading the message aloud. "By the time you read this, I will be gone. As of my completion of this message and the other events that have led up to and will immediately follow it, I shall depart to the wooded wilderness beyond and unleash the rest of my fury there. And later, once I have unleashed all the fury I have allowed to build up inside me since last night for my host's benefit, I shall later journey to find, punish, and potentially even destroy the foul rival that has dared to interfere in my host's hard work."

At the sound of all this, Robin's masked eyes widened. It had taken only seconds for him to realize what this meant, for there was only one scenario that would have possibly warranted what was now happening, not to mention the words he'd just heard Raven read. "Oh no," he thought to himself. He looked out the window in the direction of the forest. "No, no, no, no," he thought to himself. He gritted his teeth. "This is bad," he thought to himself. "Very bad, very, very, bad."

"But enough about that," Raven read, continuing the message. "I have something to say to you. My host and I thought you were smarter than this. How dare you let yourself be so easily fooled by that pretentious vermin's putrid lies? How dare you willingly banish your intelligence and better judgment in favor of being swayed by the tasteless words of this false-mouthed lying insect? How dare you so happily accept the utter rubbish that this slimy mongrel has offered you when your true destined mate has already worked so hard for you and you yourself already knew that this vile pretender couldn't have possibly been responsible for the overtures you've so willingly chosen to believe he set up?"

Robin felt his heart plummet, for the words he was now hearing were only confirming the suspicion he'd started to develop. "No, no, no," he thought to himself. Starfire and Cyborg looked intently at their fearless leader, clearly unnerved by how unsettled, nervous, and on edge he was now acting.

"I thought you were better than this," Raven continued to read. "I thought you cared about us. I thought you were our friend." The sorceress gulped, clearly unnerved by what the Beast was saying, yet at the same time still uncertain as to what she had done to warrant this scathing tirade. Then she continued to read, "Yesterday, you busted a very important part of my host. In return, I have, this very evening, busted your home. And in the future, regardless of what you may or may not feel for the unworthy pretender that has somehow enchanted you into being brainless to believe that he is your destined mate when even the lowliest of worms could tell that such a thing would be impossible, I shall hunt down this undeserving rival and make sure he renounces his claim and never goes near you, or anything else of my host's territory, ever again. As of that moment yesterday, you and that filthy spawn of maggots have made a powerful enemy; Raven; Breaker . . . of Hearts."

Robin hung his head. He now had every bit of confirmation he needed. "Crap," he thought to himself. "This was not supposed to happen."

The other Titans present, meanwhile, were much more focused on the message itself. "Geez," said Cyborg. "What did you do?"

Raven turned around to face Cyborg, finally lowering her head away from looking up at the message she'd just finished reading. "How in Azar am I supposed to know?" she asked.

"Well clearly," said Starfire, "you've done something to incite the wrath of Beast Boy's inner darkness. But now the question is, what is it?"

"I know what happened."

Cyborg and the two girls turned their heads to face Robin. "And clearly, it was neither something Raven was even directly aware of, nor exactly what the Beast appears to have thought it was." The boy wonder looked over at the sorceress. "Raven," said the Titans' fearless leader. "What happened last night after you left the tower?"

Raven raised her eyebrow, briefly confused. Then she thought to herself. "Are you certain it's ok to talk about . . ."

"It's fine," said Cyborg. "Star and I know about that secret admirer business."

"How'd you find out about that!?"

Cyborg winced, clearly not at all having enjoyed getting that question shouted at him by all three of his present fellow founders. He grimaced half sheepishly and half nervously. "Bug in your communicator," he then said to Robin. Cyborg winced again at the sight of the almost murderous look of rage on the Boy Wonder's face. "Sorry."

"Well never mind that," said Starfire. She looked over at Raven. "Please Raven, tell us what happened last night."

Raven briefly continued to glare at Cyborg. Then she sighed, and nodded her head. She looked up at her three friends. "After I left the tower," she explained, "I levitated over to the area that I was supposed to meet my apparent secret admirer at." She hung her head. "At somewhere around 8:50 or so, some civilian who happened to be out walking nearby came into the area and found me there." She looked up at her friends. "I'd actually met him before five years ago at that party Blackfire took us to, and we both thought it would be a good idea to talk and reacquaint while I was waiting for my secret admirer to show up." Starfire and Cyborg listened intently. Robin also listened intently, but his face was now clearly showing a grimace.

"We talked for a while, and I completely lost track of time until I eventually realized that we were still the only ones present in the area after what at that point definitely felt like a long while. At that point, at least according to Todd. . ."

The other Titans raised their eyebrows, clearly confused.

"Todd Jameson," said Raven. "That was the boy's name."

The other three Titans thought to themselves. Then Starfire and Cyborg nodded and grunted in acceptance of the information. Robin, however, briefly remained tensed up and thinking. "That name," he thought to himself. "It sounds familiar for some reason . . . but why?" Then he shook his head and grumbled to clear his thoughts. "You were saying?"

"It was 10:00 at that point," said Raven. She hung her head. "And my secret admirer still hadn't shown up." She looked back up at her friends. "Thankfully," she continued. "Todd was able to convince me that I didn't need to give up hope and to let him make a second attempt at a later date. And after we said our goodbyes and I told him how I could work to set up a later friendly meeting at some point in the future, I returned to the tower and went to bed so that I'd be well rested and prepared for today's zoo trip."

"Is that all?" Robin asked.

Raven nodded her head. "Yes."

Robin groaned, face palmed, and sighed. "This is bad," he said out loud.

"What's bad?" Cyborg asked.

"What do you mean?" Raven asked.

Robin sighed, and looked up at his Azarathian sister figure. "Forgive me for saying this Raven, but I was only half honest with you yesterday." He hung his head, sighing in the process. "I know exactly who your secret admirer is."

Raven's eyes widened. "Who is it?" she asked reflexively. Then her eyes narrowed. "And more importantly, how do you know?"

"Because I helped him pick out the gifts and set up the whole business in the first place." Robin looked back up at Raven. "It's Beast Boy."

For a brief moment, Raven was stunned. Then she thought to herself. "That . . . actually does make sense," she thought to herself. She looked back at Robin. "Well in that case," she then said. "Where was he last night? Why didn't he ever show up at the rendezvous point?"

Robin winced, and pointed up at the ceiling. "Call me presumptuous, but I do believe you just read the answer to that question not too long ago."

Starfire and Cyborg's eyes widened upon hearing this, clearly having managed to put two and two together. Raven, ironically, took a couple seconds longer to connect the dots, and then her own eyes widened with shock and horror when she finally realized just what had happened. "Oh no," she said.

Robin nodded his head. "I can't say anything for sure," he admitted. "But judging from what that message says, he must have arrived in the area at some point and caught sight of you chumming around with this Todd person. Depending on just what you were talking about or doing at whatever time he saw you two, I'm sure just about anyone would have jumped to the wrong conclusions." He hung his head. "And I guess he must have been to overwhelmed and emotionally compromised from what he did manage to gather to make his presence known or likewise stick around."

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," Raven whimpered. She placed her hands on her face and shook her head side to side. "He must have thought I mistook Todd for being my secret admirer. Oh no, this wasn't supposed to happen, this wasn't supposed to happen. Why me? Why me? Why me?"

Cyborg placed a hand on the sorceress's shoulder. "Hey, it's ok. It's not your fault. You couldn't have possibly known that Beast Boy would arrive and find you and Todd talking at the rendezvous point and assume the worst. . ."

"But I should have," Raven snapped. She groaned, and looked up towards the ceiling with a pained look on her face. "By Azar, I should never have talked with Todd at all last night. Or at the very least I should have at least sent him gently on his way and asked him if we could talk at a later time and then sent him away." She hung her head. "Oh why, oh why, oh why. . ."

"Well never mind that," said Robin. "We can worry about setting the record straight later. Right now, we need to find . . ."

"I couldn't find him."

The four founding Titans turned their heads in time to see Bushido standing by the main entrance to the common room. The samurai shook his head. "I searched everywhere," said the young warrior. "No sign of him."

"No need to worry about that," Robin said begrudgingly. "We know where he is."

"Where?" Bushido asked, his hands instinctively flying to the hilt of his sword.

"In the forest." Robin sighed. "And right now still in a frenzied rage over a horridly escalating misunderstanding." He looked over at Bushido. "You stand by and be ready to sound an alert to the others in case we need them to drop by to help out." He looked at his three fellow founders. "For now, the four of us will . . ."

"No."

Robin's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"I said no," said Raven. She looked up at Robin, a half determined and half guilty look on her face. "I'm going after him on my own."

"Raven, I strongly advise against . . ."

"I mean it Robin." Raven hung her head, sighing in the process. "It's my fault he's gotten all bent out of shape right now. I should have been more considerate of the possibility of him showing up at an inopportune moment before I accepted Todd's offer to talk and spend time with him at the rendezvous point while waiting. It's my fault things looked bad enough at the time of his arrival for him to take it the wrong way when it wasn't what it looked like."

The sorceress lifted her head. "None of this drama would have unfolded just now if I'd been more careful with the timing last night. It's my fault all this happened, and this metaphorical blood is on my hands alone. I should be the one to set things right. And besides, I'm the only who can calm the Beast down externally anyway, and it will be easier to do all that without you guys or anything else around to distract me or agitate him further." She nodded his head. "I'm going out there to calm him down on my own. And that is final."

Raven looked back up at her friends, drawing out her communicator in the process. "If things head south in my efforts to calm Beast Boy down, or some other form of danger pops up to the point that I need any help, I'll send a distress call." She slipped her communicator back where she'd gotten it. "In that event, you, Star, and Cyborg can come to the forest to provide aid."

"What about me and the others?"

Raven looked over at Bushido. "For now, Robin's earlier order for you still stands. Remain on alert and on standby here at the tower. In the event that any danger that may or may not appear gets to the point that my fellow founders aren't enough to sufficiently stave it off, we'll send a distress straight to your communicator. We know that you're available and have your communicator activated and directly on your person. In the event that you receive the distress signal, see if you can find out whether or not any of the other Titans from South, East, or North can drop whatever they're up to and help out." The sorceress nodded her head, her mind made up and her heart set. "But for now, I'm going on my own." She looked Robin in the mask. "And I'm reminding you now," said the sorceress. "For your own safety as well as mine and Beast Boy's, I want all four of you to stay here at the tower unless I give the distress signal. And only come to my position in the event that I give that signal. Got that?"

Robin nodded his head, as did Starfire and Cyborg. "Understood," said Robin. He looked over at Raven. "Good luck."

Raven nodded, and looked up at the ceiling with its furiously inscribed message one more time. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then exhaled. She opened her eyes. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." A pool of shadows appeared underneath the sorceress, and she sank into it before it closed, vanishing from sight. Seconds later, a larger portal appeared in the sky in front of the TV window of the tower, and Raven swooped out of the vortex and off in the direction of the forest. "Please be ok, please be ok, please be ok," she thought to herself as she hovered off to the forest to find Beast Boy and calm him out of the form of the Beast. And that was only the first thing that needed to be done. She sighed, and hung her head mid hover. "Beast Boy," she whispered to herself. "I am so sorry; for every time I've hurt you, physically or otherwise." She looked up and back towards the area she was flying towards. "Somehow or other, I am going to make things right. By Azar, I promise you that." With this whispered vow having been made, she hurriedly increased her speed in hovering towards the forest, now more determined than ever to find Beast Boy and set things right.

 **And just like that, new chapter done! Definitely hoping you enjoyed this and that I receive a nice respectable batch of feedback. Remember, I require** ** _at least one_** **review for this chapter in order to allow you to be blessed with the posting of the next chapter (after it's completion anyway). Again, here's to hoping you read, enjoyed, and will leave plenty of feedback. Tata for now!**

 **Coming up next: A now very much calmed down and non Beast-ified Beast Boy has some time in the woods to think and relax, and look back over a certain unpleasant past event from a less emotionally clouded perspective. And soon after that, he manages to be positioned just right for overhearing a very unnerving bit of information indeed regarding a certain sinister test of worth that Raven is even now unwittingly getting into position for (albeit, on her own and without the push in the right direction from 'Todd' that was originally planned). Sound exciting? I certainly hope so!**


	12. The Perks of Eavesdropping

**What's this? A new chapter? Already? Boy I must be on a roll! That being said, here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy! In this new chapter, a now very much calmed down and non Beast-ified Beast Boy manages to both look back on the unpleasant 'revelation' that led to the Beast's rampage from a less emotionally clouded perspective . . . and also become aware of a very real and dangerous trap that he has now unwittingly allowed Raven to enable herself to get caught in. Sound exciting? I certainly hope so! And that being said, onward with the fic!**

 **A/N: But first, I'll just quickly remind you all again that I do not own Teen Titans. NOW onward with the fic!**

 **Chapter 11:**

 **The Perks of Eavesdropping**

Beast Boy lay on the grassy ground within the small clearing in the forest, panting and gasping from exhaustion. At the current moment, he was back in his human form, and his suit was quite tattered from the result of the Beast wresting control to itself instead of Beast Boy willingly taking on its form. But unlike the previous two times in which the Beast had initiated the transformation during its first moments of surfacing from three years ago, this time Beast Boy had full memory of everything that had happened.

"Man," he thought to himself. "The Beast really was angry after last night; angrier then I thought." He weakly turned his head to face the direction that led towards the tower. "And boy this is gonna be a tough threshold to come back from." He sighed. "And today had been going so well to."

Beast Boy lowered his head to the ground, sighing heavily in exhaustion and regret. "Man, what does it take for me to have a 100% happy day on Valentine's Day anymore?" He turned his head towards the area directly in front of him. "And all because of some horridly gone wrong rendezvous last night . . ."

He sighed, and lowered his head so that it was touching the ground once more. For a long while, he remained positioned in this manner. "Boy my life sucks," he thought to himself.

Eventually, he managed to calm down to the point that he was able to start thinking on the matter particularly strongly, and he found himself raising his eyebrow in confusion at one of his own thoughts. "Did Raven really think that guy was her secret admirer?" Now that he thought about it, the very idea sounded ridiculous and quite uncharacteristically dumb on Raven's part.

"Now that I think about it," he thought to himself, his face dropping and ears drooping as he rather belatedly came to the realization that his four fellow founders had realized not too long ago. "I didn't even really hear anything they were actually talking about, or stick around long enough to really see enough to get the full picture." He hung his head, now feeling quite ashamed of himself. "What was I thinking?" he thought to himself. "Of course she didn't mistake that schmuck for her secret admirer. He was probably just someone she considered a friend among the civilian populace. And me being the drama prince I am, I completely jumped to the wrong conclusion."

Beast Boy slammed his face upon the ground. "And here I am getting annoyed and rankled whenever they call me an idiot," he grumbled to himself. "When even now I'm still making stupid mistakes like this one." He lifted up his clenched fists and slammed them down in annoyance. "God I'm such a brainless fool!"

The sound of rustling reached his ears from the undergrowth. His head snapped up, ears up and eyes widened and alert. "What was that?" he thought to himself.

He listened carefully. The rustling appeared again. He crouched forward, his eyes narrowed, and the rest of his body likewise on fully alert mode. He rose up so that he was standing on all fours, still glaring in the direction from which he'd heard the rustling, and morphed into a cougar. He silently crawled through the forest in his careful stalking of the unseen figure responsible for the rustling that had now alerted him to its presence.

After what felt like an eternity of carefully following the sound of the rustling, Beast Boy finally managed to overhear what sounded like someone talking, and he silently creeped up closer. He came to a stop behind a large tree standing before what looked like a sizeable clearing. It was from this clearing that the voice he was now hearing was coming from.

The green cougar remained crouched behind the tree, listening carefully to the voice . . . its eyes narrowed, make that _voices_ that were now emanating from the clearing he was positioned by. Both of them indicated that the speakers were clearly men, and of the two, he could quite easily recognize one of them. His eyes narrowed upon recognition of said voice. It was the goth boy he'd caught Raven speaking to at the intended rendezvous point from the previous night. The other voice, however, he was not above admitting to have never once heard in his life.

"You're telling me this now?" the unfamiliar voice growled, clearly having heard something that he was not at all pleased to know about.

"I'm sorry," spoke the goth boy. "Look, I did what you asked ok? I worked to get things set up so that she would at least potentially drop by tonight so I could lead her into the trap. But hey, for the record, I did say that I didn't know for sure that she would actually be able to accompany me on a late night walk through the woods tonight. And clearly, judging by how half an hour has passed since the time I was originally planning to start the walk and I still haven't received the signal she promised to send in the event that she'd be able to join me tonight, then presumably, she got held up by scheduling conflicts and we'll just have to reschedule."

Beast Boy's cougar eyes narrowed, and he just barely managed to keep himself from letting out a low feline hiss. "So the Beast and I were half right," he thought to himself. "He can't be trusted."

The other figure snarled, clearly not happy. Then the figure appeared to take deep breaths and calm himself down. "I see," spoke the figure. "I will admit it was careless on my part to assume that the sorceress would be automatically guaranteed to show up to accompany you on a walk in this forest tonight. I should have made absolutely sure of that detail before I gave the all clear to my other hopeful subordinate to prepare himself for tonight's ambush." There was a brief pause. "I shall contact him soon to let him know of the setback. From there, we shall work out a proper time to reschedule the plan. For now, it's best that you . . ."

An unexpected electronic ringing split the air, very nearly startling Beast Boy into giving himself away and very clearly interrupting what the mysterious figure had been about to say. The figure in question could now be heard growling. "By his Malevolence, I hate this modern day technology."

Beast Boy's cougar eyes widened. "This guy works for the big shot downstairs," he thought to himself. He listened intently, desperate to see if he could gather any more useful intel.

The mysterious figure managed to activate the phone. "Who is this?"

"It's me."

The chartreuse yellow-green eyes of Beast Boy's cougar form widened again. This voice was another one he recognized; and this voice belonged to a person that he viewed with even stronger distaste then the goth boy. "Adonis," he thought to himself.

"Anderson," said the mysterious figure. "I was not expecting you to call."

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint," Adonis responded in a sarcastic manner. "But never mind that, I've caught sight of the witch."

Beast Boy's cougar eyes widened, and he tensed up in shock and horror. Judging by the silence coming from the clearing, the goth boy and the mysterious higher up were equally surprised.

"She's here?" asked the unfamiliar figure. "In the forest?"

"Well she's not, technically, _in_ the forest," spoke the voice of Adonis. "But I can still see her hovering right above the trees in front of me right now; so yeah, she's here. And that's another reason I called. One, she's flying. And two, that schmuck you said would be walking with her and leading her to me, I don't see him anywhere. And I haven't caught any sign of him being anywhere in the area. Am I still good to go in spite of that? Or do I need to abort?"

"Abort, abort, abort," Beast Boy thought to himself desperately, even though he knew quite well how very unlikely the mysterious figure would be to abort the mission just as a result of him mentally willing the figure to do so without mind control powers.

"No need to worry," said the mysterious figure. "I will admit; the plan has unfolded somewhat differently from what was intended. But regardless, she's coming to the forest and shouldn't be airborne forever. And yes, I'm saying you're free to do your part in the plan, and thus attempt to fulfill your little test. Follow her from the ground as best as you can, and try your hardest not to lose sight of her. And that being said, make sure you are at a reasonably close distance from her when she lands."

With every word he heard, Beast Boy felt his heart sink deeper and deeper and his brain become increasingly icier from horror. "Oh no, no, no," the shapeshifter thought to himself. It took all his willpower not to growl in anger at his unwitting responsibility for the current situation. "Damnation!" he thought to himself. "She's on her way here to search for me and make sure I'm ok." He turned his head towards the direction of the clearing. "And now, all because of that, she's unwittingly flying right into a trap! God I'm an idiot!"

"And after she lands?"

"You still have that little secret weapon I gave you?"

Beast Boy's eyes widened again upon hearing this. "Secret weapon?" he thought to himself. "That can't be good."

"Yep," Adonis responded. "Still got it. Though I will admit, even in this casing, I can still smell it."

"Well at least you have the sense not to open the case and _then_ smell it," said the voice of the mysterious higher up. "One direct whiff of that stuff, and you'd be paralyzed for an hour; and you're going to need that witch immobilized for a great deal longer than that if you want to bring her to me alive instead of dead."

"Definitely not good," Beast Boy thought to himself.

"But never mind that," said the 'boss' figure. "Once she's landed, and you're in a suitable position, you are to throw the case containing the liquid towards her. The casing is very fragile, and easily shattered if subjected to sufficient levels of force. Once the casing breaks, the resulting aftermath should be enough to get the sorceress out of commission; though I'd still recommend you try your hardest to avoid getting caught in the blast when it happens. Paralyzing the target will be of no use if you get yourself immobilized as well."

"Understood," replied Adonis. "And after she's immobilized?"

"Like I said yesterday," said the mysterious figure. "Feel free to do as you wish before meeting back up with me at that cave I showed you before sending you off to get ready; but only as long as you are able to make it back there by midnight. And for God's sake be prudent about it! Her teammates may yet drop by the forest themselves, and regardless of how high of a dosage she gets, the sorceress won't stay immobilized forever."

"Watch my time, got it," said Adonis. "Ok, she's still in my sight range so far, but that could easily change within the next couple minutes, so I'd better go now."

"Yes, go now," said the voice of the hidden boss figure. "I will be waiting for you at the rendezvous point. Good luck."

"Roger that." No sooner had Adonis made this response when another electronic beep split the air; this one signaling that the mysterious boss figure had now hung up the phone.

"Well then," said the hidden boss. "It seems there will no longer be any need to reschedule the plan."

"So there won't," responded the goth boy. "But even so, did you really have to let him get off the hook for calling me a schmuck?"

"That's hardly a reason for reprimanding someone boy," the hidden figure growled. "And regardless, it does not matter now. In any event, regardless of whether or not he succeeds in his test and proves himself worthy of joining my cause, I will make very much sure that you will have no need to worry about having to deal with his more disrespectful tendencies."

"If you say so," said the goth boy. A brief pause unfolded. "You know, about what you said just now about succeeding in assigned tasks, I do believe I also fulfilled my own little task you assigned me, technically speaking."

"So you did."

"Well in that case," the goth boy paused. "Forgive me if this sounds disrespectful in its own right, but I believe you promised me . . ."

"Oh yes, your reward," said the mysterious figure. "Fear not. I haven't forgotten about my promise; and you will get your reward as promised."

"Thank you."

"But not yet. For now, I need to focus on my hopeful recruit's current efforts, and I can't risk you getting caught with what I promised to give you outside your lair in your current form. Don't lose heart, I will keep to my end of the bargain, but not right now. There's too much at stake at the current moment."

"If you say so," responded the goth boy. "So what should I do now?"

"For now, I'd recommend you return to your home. The last thing I need is for the sorceress or one of the other Titans to catch you here in the same area as me and the hopeful recruit. I'll meet you at a later date. Got that?"

"Understood," said the goth boy.

"Good, now let's get out of here."

"Roger that."

At the sound of that, Beast Boy tensed up, crouching down so as to allow even less of himself to be easily seen. And as he remained thus hidden, he saw the goth boy run out of the clearing right past where he was positioned. About a minute after the goth boy's departure, he heard the distinctive sound he remembered always hearing whenever Raven summoned a shadow portal, and saw a glow of black light shining from the clearing from out of the corner of his eyes. When the black flash of light faded, he instantly knew that the mysterious figure who had been conversing with the goth boy and Adonis had departed from the clearing himself.

For about another 5-10 minutes, Beast Boy remained crouched and in hiding by the tree, just to be absolutely certain that it would be safe to get out of hiding. He straightened up out of his crouching mode and walked into position right in front of the clearing entrance that the goth boy had used to exit and enter the clearing.

"Finally they're gone," he thought to himself. Then he looked up towards the sky. "But

Raven's still in the area looking for me. And now, Adonis is after her." He growled, and crouched again as if about to pounce. "I've gotta find her," he thought to himself. "I've gotta warn her."

With a snarl, he leaped into the air, transforming into a great horned owl in the process. And with that, he flew into the air and started soaring around above the trees in search of Raven. "Where are you Raven?" he thought to himself as he carefully scanned the area around him with his exceptionally strong owl vision. "Where are you?" He looked around some more, letting out a small series of low hoots in the process. "Come on Garfield," he thought to himself. "You can do this. Raven's safety, her honor, and potentially even her life, depends on you." His eyes narrowed, and if his current form had allowed him the ability, he would have growled. "And there ain't no way I'm letting that nasty little vermin Adonis have his way with her. Not now, not back then, not ever."

 **And just like that, another chapter done! And wow, this chapter's even shorter than the previous one (and now that I think the next one after this, and potentially the one following that one, could very well end up pretty short as well). But regardless, here's to hoping you enjoyed reading this chapter and that you leave plenty of feedback! As per usual, I require at least one review (plus completion of the next chapter) for this chapter before I post the next chapter! Get it? Got it? Good! Again, hope you enjoyed! ^_^**

 **Coming up Next: The trap is sprung!**


	13. Right into a Trap

**What's this? Another chapter? MAN I'm on a roll! Admittedly, this is another somewhat shorter chapter. But hey, after the real monster of a chapter I gave you three chapters ago, I'm sure you won't mind yet another shorter chapter to allow for a much deserved breather. On that note, once again, I hope you all enjoy this next new chapter, read it, and leave plenty of feedback. And that being said, in this new chapter, Raven comes to a landing in the forest over the course of her search for Beast Boy . . . only to unexpectedly find herself caught in a trap! Sound exciting? I certainly hope so!**

 **A/N: One final thing to say before you leave you to your reading. I do not own Teen Titans. There, done. Now; onward with the fic!**

 **Chapter 12:**

 **Right into a Trap**

For another few minutes, Raven continued to levitate over the forest, carefully searching as best as she could for her missing shapeshifter friend. She let no outward sign of her emotions show. But inside, she was feeling frantic and worried. "Come on Beast Boy," she thought to herself. "Where are you?"

She continued soaring over the forest, trying as hard as she could to catch some sign of the shapeshifter she was searching for. "I know he's down there somewhere," she thought to herself. "But where?"

She narrowed her eyes in a mixture of concentration and irritation. "You'd think that a hulking green werewolf-like monster with Incredible Hulk level rage issues would be so much easier to find than this." She looked straight downwards. "Where is he?"

Under any other circumstances, she would have detected the changeling on her empathic radar in no time flat. But at the current moment, much like when she'd comforted him in his bedroom three days ago, she had no idea where or what to focus her empathic senses on. And secondly, in her current state of mind, she doubted she'd be able to properly concentrate well enough for her empathic abilities to work as well as they usually would. Thus she had no other choice but to rely on her less empathy-based senses to find Beast Boy. She squinted down towards the ground. "Where could he be?"

A loud rustling split the air beneath her. The sorceress paused, listening intently. She heard the rustling again, and this time she saw several trees about a mile or two ahead of her swaying slightly in synch with the rustling.

"That had better be you Beast Boy," Raven whispered to herself. In a flash, she dove down towards the area where she saw the rustling trees.

. . . . .

Adonis had a smile on his face as he continued to rapidly shake the trees he was holding in his hands by the trunks. "Boy am I clever or what?" he thought to himself. He shook his head side to side, smug smile still on his face. "She obviously wasn't led into the forest by that dweeb the black cloaked fellow mentioned; so likely she's on patrol. And thus, she'd be on the lookout now for crimes or anything else suspicious looking." He chuckled. "And since their certainly ain't anything naturally living around here capable of moving these here trees the way I currently am, and she's smart enough to almost certainly be aware of that, there ain't no way she won't come down to investigate." His grin widened. "And when she does," he drew out a small crystalline box, the 'secret weapon' that the cloaked figure had given him, from a small pocket that had recently been built into his armor. "That will be when I strike."

He lifted his head to check if his plan was working. His smile widened. He could see the sorceress diving down towards the clearing near the trees he was rustling right that very moment.

"Yes," he purred. "That's right little girl." He grinned. "Come on down to Adonis you hot little kitty cat." At the same time he had this thought, he started shaking the trees even harder, and his grin widened as he saw Raven get noticeably closer to landing on the ground within the clearing a good few yards or so in front of his position. Then she disappeared below the tree line, and his grin widened. "Perfect," he thought to himself.

In a flash, he stopped rustling the trees, and stood absolutely still, not daring to make a move just yet.

"Beast Boy?" he heard Raven ask. "Are you there?"

Adonis felt a flare of anger rise up inside him. "Looking for that freaky green wimp huh?" he thought to himself. He gritted his teeth arrogantly in a silent snarl. "How dare you think so highly of such a worthless piece of trash like that walking string bean when you could have a real man like me?"

"Beast Boy?" he heard Raven say once again. "If you're there, please say something, or at least make some sort of noise or similar indication that you're here."

Adonis snorted in a mixture of anger and derision. "Oh I'll give you something alright," he thought to himself. He drew the crystalline box once more and drew the arm that was now grasping it back, allowing the moonlight to shine onto the surface as well as the ominously clear liquid within. "And it will be a million times more worthy of such a fine hottie like you then anything that green midget could ever give."

"Beast Boy," said Raven. "Say something. Please; if you're there, I really need to know you're ok."

"Wherever that green weakling is," Adonis thought to himself as he tensed himself up for when he finally threw the crystalline box. "He's probably a heck of a lot better then you're going to be." He hurled the box up into the air, yet at the same time in Raven's direction.

. . . . .

Raven snapped her head upwards upon hearing a sudden rustling burst noise come from in front of her. Then her eyebrows rose in confusion at the sight of what looked like some sort of large prism-shaped crystal hurtling through the air in an arc in her direction. Then the object in question started falling closer towards her, and her eyes widened in shock as she noticed and recognized the ominously clear and transparent liquid inside.

Raven summoned a force field around herself, and the crystalline box crashed into it, exploding into countless fragments simultaneously and releasing the liquid. Upon exposure to the air, the entirety of the liquid inside evaporated into a storm of white gas that filled up the entire clearing.

Raven remained standing within her force field, panting and gasping at the narrow escape she'd just had. "That gas," she thought to herself. "It's a special weaponized potion from the Brotherhood of Dante's database. In both gas and liquid form, it's capable of immobilizing and depowering all who so much as inhale a single drop. Starts out with knocking the victim out cold and rendering him or her into a state of complete suspended animation. By the time they wake up, they will regain the ability to speak and their basic senses, but will be unable to move and will be likewise rendered powerless for however long it takes for the effects to wear off. The larger the dosage, the more time it takes for the effects to wear off." In that moment, she knew without any doubt, that searching for Beast Boy was the least of her immediate concerns. As of that very moment, she had unwittingly wandered right into a trap. Then her eyes widened as she noticed the gaseous clouds outside the force field starting to expand skyward and likewise out of the clearing. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

A second force field appeared outside the one she'd already summoned, trapping the gas and preventing it from escaping. Then a black vortex appeared on the ground covered by the gas, sucking all of the sinister vapors inside before vanishing into thin air alongside it. Raven let out a small sigh of relief, and dismissed both force fields. "Thank Azar that's over."

"No!"

Raven looked up to face the area in front of her, and her purple eyes narrowed at the sight of a very familiar armored figure step out of the wooded area and into the clearing. "Adonis," she growled. "What are you doing here?"

Adonis made a mock pout. "Oh come on babe," he purred. "That's no way to greet a person; especially not _me_ of all people."

Raven snarled, her raised hood further strengthening the now ominous aura of anger starting to build up around her. "You of all people should know perfectly well how undeserving you are of any pleasantries or politeness from me, let alone any other girl, or any other person for that matter."

Adonis chuckled. "You wound me," said the armored 20-year old man. "Honestly girl, surely you should understand by now how pointless it is to fight what's going on between us."

"Oh please," Raven growled, rolling her eyes. "What's going on between us? It's one sided on both ends asshole. Hatred on my end, and a twisted fanatical obsession on yours. I sure as Hell don't love you; and quite frankly I never will. And Azar help whatever luckless girl actually does end up falling for you."

"Oh come on," said Adonis in an almost purring tone. He chuckled again. "You know better than to deny the truth like that. We all know how you really feel."

"You think I'm lying?" Raven asked in a completely deadpan tone of voice. "I'm telling you the honest to God truth." She let a small smirk come on her face. "And deny it all you want; I know the other guy agrees with me even though you won't."

"Indeed I do," growled a voice inside Adonis's head. "She may deserve to die, but she certainly is honest. Unlike you."

"Shut up," Adonis growled mentally at his inner Beast. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, but in a way that would make it seem as if he were shaking his head in an arrogant display of overconfident self-esteem. "Oh please," he purred. "Stop fighting the inevitable." He directed a smug wolf-like grin at the sorceress. "Really, it's unbecoming of you to resist like this. We both know you're smarter than that." His grin widened. "And deny it all you want, but we both know how you truly feel, even though you and that annoying piece of vermin inside me refuse to admit it. So please, stop lying to yourself. We belong together. It's our destiny."

"As if," Raven responded without missing a beat. "The only destiny in store for you is a one-way ticket to Hell. And I already know firsthand that I won't be joining you there when I die."

"Doesn't mean I won't get to brag about my exploits to your fearless leader when I meet him there," said Adonis with a grin.

Raven was quite surprised to hear this, but masterfully let no outward sign of it show. "And what makes you think that will be possible?"

"Villains' grapevine," Adonis purred. "I may not be associated with that Brotherhood of Big Bad Wannabes anymore, but all of us villains who used to work on our own against you before committing the idiotic act of the century in joining them, not to mention all other standalone villains and those affiliated with the Legion of Doom still keep some level of contact between each other to stay aware of the world's happenings and the news on our enemies." He folded his armored arms across his chest, smiling smugly. "To make a long story short, word travels fast. And word on the street? Bird boy's got himself a one-way ticket to Hell that he's going to be cashing in next year."

Raven again let no outward sign show itself to Adonis. Inside, however, she was mentally cursing. "He knows about the deal," she thought to herself. Her eyes narrowed in both general anger at Adonis and at how very swiftly things were starting to get worse. "And if he knows about it, then who else knows?"

"But never mind that," said Adonis. He extended his right hand out towards Raven and started walking towards her, a smug smile on his face. "It's time we went off my dear. You know we've both been waiting for this day to come. Just say the words babe. You know it's true."

"Oh I've definitely got words for you alright," said Raven. She snapped her hands upwards, now glowing with her distinctive black energy. Adonis's eyes widened in shock. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

Bursts of black lightning spouted from her palms and slammed into Adonis's chest, sending the armored boy flying backward. He crashed right through the trees he'd been standing amongst and landed hard on his back. He groaned, and managed to force himself back onto his feet. He eventually chuckled, and shook his head side to side as if in amusement. "You're as feisty as ever I see," said Adonis. He directed a smug look in Raven's direction, not at all caring how he was no longer at sufficient distance to see her directly. "You know I love a good challenge."

"Take this then."

Adonis's eyes had just widened in shock from unexpectedly hearing Raven's voice, when a massive oak tree right in front of him became encased in shadowy energy, uprooted itself from the ground, and then positioned itself appropriately before swinging itself at him like a golf club. The massive tree slammed into Adonis and sent him rocketing into the air. Needless to say, the landing he got from that attack was even more painful than the impact against him from the tree.

By the time he finally managed to get into an upright sitting position, he was in too much pain to even make another smug attempt at flirting. He groaned, and placed one hand on his stomach and another on his back, wincing from the pain.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

Adonis snapped his head up in shock, only to then be blasted down hard onto his back with a massive jet of shadow fire. Raven was now hovering a respectable distance above him with her hands pointed towards him and shadow fire spouting from her palms. She snarled, her eyes glowing black as well as her hands. "He will not get away with this," she growled mentally. "And if he's harmed Beast Boy in any way, by Azar I will . . ."

A blaring noise suddenly erupted in her ears, and what appeared to be a beam of noise waves slammed into her from the opposite direction of her shadow fire. The combination of the loud noise and the impact sent her flying backwards and off course. She landed hard on her belly right back into the forest proper.

No sooner had Raven been blasted from the sky when Adonis got up on his feet, the noise wave beam projector in his chest plate that he'd activated and used just now retracting back into its sheath. "As I'm sure you've now seen," he grinned cheekily, "or perhaps I should say, _heard_ , I've made a few upgrades. Now I'm more macho than ever." He struck a cheesy pose as if pretending to be a body builder. "And by God the people are gonna _hear_ it!" He chuckled at his wit, and then started running forward towards where he was sure he'd find Raven, ready to have another go.

Raven, meanwhile, was able to get back on her feet, and she hurriedly recited her mantra long before she even got the chance to hear the armored boy's footsteps running up towards her from behind, and she melted into a vortex of shadows before rematerializing right back in the clearing where the entire unpleasant confrontation had begun. "Should have kept my guard up," she thought to herself. Her eyes narrowed. "And considering that one upgrade I just found out about the hard way, who knows what else he's now got in that armor of his?"

She found out the answer to that instantly, and again in the hard way, when she suddenly got sent flying forward by an unexpected explosion that occurred right behind her. When she finally managed to get up, she snarled in rage at the sight of Adonis calmly walking into the clearing with his right arm pointed at the still burning area where the explosion had occurred, and with a large missile launcher-like device jutting out from the armor on that area.

The armored boy chuckled, and retracted the missile launcher. "I'm almost insulted by how easily you're getting caught off guard by my new toys." His smile widened. "Then again, I guess it's not such a bad thing considering that obviously means you're impressed by them."

Raven hissed in rage. "The Hell I am," she growled. She levitated up into the air once more, eyes practically steaming and on the verge of turning red. "The day I ever feel anything towards you that isn't pure and utter hatred will be the day the demons shake hands with the angels and they all sing Kumbaya together."

"An amusing image," said Adonis. He extended both of his hands towards Raven, palms now open and facing her directly. All of a sudden, what appeared to be circles of glass very similar to Iron Man's repulsor beam blasters started to glow and hum. "But that won't be necessary." Raven's eyes widened at the sight of the clearly charging weapons, and Adonis grinned. "Because believe you me," Adonis purred, "if you were truly not at all hot for me like you claim, you'll definitely get extra hot for me now." With an electronic groan, jets of flame burst from the boy's gauntlets and rocketed straight towards Raven.

The sorceress hurriedly levitated upwards and out of the way just in time for the jets of fire to roast the trees behind her. Within moments, the fire had started to spread to the trees behind the already burning line of trees. Raven hurriedly extended her hand towards the trees now at risk, encased them in shadowy energy, and uprooted them before the fire could spread sufficiently enough to run the risk of burning down the entire forest. The fire, now cut off from its air supply, shut out. In a flash, Raven levitated the entire group of trees directly above Adonis, and then slammed the whole lot of them down on top of him. And she proceeded to lift them back up and slam them down on him again and again. "This had better be painful you sick, twisted . . ."

Another beam of noise waves erupted from underneath her and trees, and she was sent rocketing upwards, off balance, and out of the control. At the same time, the trees and the shadowy energy encasing them were blasted to nothing. Adonis had blindsided her with his chest plate noise wave cannon yet again. After what felt like hours, Raven finally came crashing down to landing. She groaned, and worked to get back up on her feet. She had only managed to get on her hands and knees when she then heard Adonis smugly purr, "I knew you'd fall for me sooner or later."

At that point, Raven was livid with rage. She levitated upwards, her eyes now glowing red. "One more word out of you, and I swear, I will rip out your . . ."

Raven was interrupted when she felt something wiry snap and coil around her left ankle and she unexpectedly found herself engulfed in a mass web of electricity. Raven shrieked in agony as she felt the electricity zap her. Whatever had coiled around her ankle eventually let go, and the electricity simultaneously faded away. Raven fell back down to the ground with a thud, groaning in pain.

"Now this takes the whole concept of taking a shine to someone to a whole new level!"

Raven looked up, and her eyes widened in fear at the sight of Adonis walking towards her. Or more accurately, at the sight of his newest revealed upgrade that he still hadn't yet retracted. Dangling from the fingertips of his gauntlets were what appeared to be very thick electrical cables that were now violently sparkling with electricity. It was clear now that at least one of these cables had been responsible for her earlier electrocution. Raven mentally gulped, and carefully, yet quickly, got positioned back up onto her feet. While one part of her couldn't help but make note of the slight similarity in style to the similar gadget wielded by Ivan Vanko in Iron Man 2, she was otherwise well aware of how the armored miscreant now had a dangerous advantage in his favor now that he'd decided to unveil this particular upgrade in his armor. "I'd really better be careful now," she thought to herself. "The last thing I need is to be forced to try to pull either of the two stunts that Tony Stark had to use in his encounters with Vanko in Iron Man 2. With my nature as both an umbrakinetic and a half demoness, there's no way I'd survive such ploys."

Raven glared defiantly at Adonis, even though she was still mildly terrified on the inside. "But what else can I do? As long as he's got those whips out and active, I doubt any of my attacks will have that much of an effect on him."

As it soon turned out, Adonis had similar thoughts, as his confident grin then grew wider, and he started spinning his arms, and the electrified whips, around in circles in the exact same fashion as the character with the gadgets that had clearly provided the inspiration for said whips. And as he got closer to Raven's position, he started spinning his arms and electric whips faster and faster. Raven gritted her teeth, for now she clearly needed to think extra fast.

Eventually, right as Adonis was about 9 or so footsteps away from Raven, he smacked the whips on his right hand down hard on the ground literally right in front of the sorceress. The impact of the whips combined with the resulting mild electrical discharge knocked Raven off her feet and sent her flying backwards. She landed on her back and skidded to a halt against a nearby tree, which Adonis then proceeded to slice in half at the area directly above her head with a single rapid lash of his left hand whips. Raven involuntarily shrieked as this happened, and the top half of the tree fell to the ground behind the bottom half with a thud. As Raven gaped at the damage Adonis had now inflicted upon the tree behind her in stunned surprise, Adonis walked up towards her again.

Raven finally came back down to Earth when she heard Adonis speak from disturbingly close to her, "Any last words?"

The sorceress turned her head. Sure enough, Adonis was now standing right in front of her with his right arm raised and spinning the whips on his right hand in the air in a style reminiscent of a cowboy's lasso, the buzz of the electricity engulfing the whips causing the motion to take on an added level of scariness.

In that moment, seeing just how close to her Adonis was now standing, she closed her eyes, now finally having a plan of attack. "Just three," she responded. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

At the exact moment she shouted the last word, her eyes snapped open and revealed themselves to be glowing pure white. In that moment, Adonis had just enough time for his eyes to widen in surprise before he was then sent rocketing backwards by a gigantic shockwave of shadowy energy that abruptly materialized between him and Raven from completely out of nowhere. Adonis slammed against a large tree directly behind him, groaning in pain. Then he shook his head rapidly side to side. When he directed his attention directly towards Raven once again, he had a vicious snarl of such rage that Raven knew right then and there that she very much needed to get out of the area as fast as possible.

In a flash, right as Adonis leaped back onto his feet and started charging straight back towards the center of the clearing, simultaneously drawing back his right arm as if about to lash the whips again, Raven hurriedly rocketed up into the air. And she did this just in time to; for mere seconds after she came to a stop at what she deemed a safe distance, Adonis reached the center of the clearing and started rapidly spinning around with an angry yell, the whips now at full charge and violently crackling and buzzing while likewise spinning around and slicing up nearly every tree and similar object within the immediate vicinity.

After what seemed like an eternity, Adonis finally stopped spinning, and he stood facing the area where Raven had been before takeoff, snarling and growling in rage. "God darn it," he snarled, directing his head from side to side. "Where is she?"

"Right up here," said Raven. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

Adonis had literally just looked up towards Raven when a massive bolt of shadow lightning dropped down from the sky and blasted him point blank. The blast struck him with such a strong impact that he was jolted off his feet and sent sprawling on his back, groaning in pain and shock. In that instant, Raven extended her hand down towards Adonis, and hurriedly recited her mantra once more. In a flash, a large glowing circular bulb none-to-different from an arc reactor located within Adonis's chest plate became encased with shadowy energy and was yanked upwards and out of its socket before Raven then proceeded to toss it aside deep within the still standing trees to the downed miscreant's left. No sooner had the device been thus removed from its socket and disposed of when the electricity engulfing the cords protruding from the gauntlet fingertips shut off.

Adonis's eyes widened in shock upon noticing the abrupt cessation of the electrical buzzing noise from before. He hurriedly looked left and right, checking his electro-whips, and then cursed mentally upon noticing that they had now shut down. He looked over towards his chest plate, his eyes narrowing into a glare at the sight of the now empty circular socket. "Curses," he mentally growled. "That was the main power supply for my upgrades."

Growling still, he almost grudgingly mashed the button in his chest plate that he'd pressed to trigger the electro-whips, causing the now harmless cords to retract back into their sheaths within his gauntlets' fingertip covers. "Guess it's back to full on physical combat now," he thought to himself.

"It's over Adonis!"

Adonis tensed up. Raven was now right behind him. "You're finished Adonis! Now tell me where Beast Boy is and I'll let you off with a warning!"

At that moment, Adonis couldn't tell whether or not he should growl in anger of chuckle in amusement. Clearly, Raven thought that he'd perhaps captured or likewise done something bad to her green friend. Then he suddenly realized just how much Raven's current position now fit in his favor, and he let a smug smile come on his face. But even so, he didn't bother to turn his head to face her just yet. "Look witch," he then stated, masterfully concealing his current feelings of triumph at his current idea by making himself appear to still be angry. "I came out here with strictly you as the sole target. I was most certainly not aware of that green wimp being missing or in the area. And even if I had any idea where he was, I still wouldn't tell you."

Adonis heard Raven growl behind him. "And how do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Well aside from perhaps using your mind reading mojo, you don't."

Adonis leaned his head forward, seemingly as if angrily tensing up. "But regardless, that's not really my problem. Right now, I've got more important things to worry about."

"Oh yeah?" Raven asked. "Like what?"

"I'll give you an example."

In a flash, Adonis whipped his upper body around to face Raven, grabbed her by the collar of her cloak, and hurled her over his shoulder. The sorceress was caught completely off guard, and she landed hard before skidding to a halt on her belly a good couple feet ahead of the armored miscreant. Raven panted and gasped, and hurriedly got her hands position so she could push herself back up.

Then she suddenly felt something sharp, yet small, prick her in the side of the neck, accompanied by wind displacement of something heavy landing in the area as well as the sound of two heavy footsteps landing on either side of her. Raven was briefly immobilized from the sheer shock of it all; then she managed to direct a small glance towards where she'd felt the pricking sensation in her neck and her heart turned to ice at the sight of what she now saw right there at the area she'd felt the sensation. A small syringe had now been jabbed nonlethally in the right side of her neck and the armored hand holding it was even now continuing to inject an alarmingly familiar transparent liquid into her bloodstream.

Raven's eyes widened. "No," she managed to whisper to herself.

"Oh yes," said Adonis. A wolfish grin came on his face. "Come on, did you really think I wouldn't come prepared? I may not be the sharpest fang in the jaw; and believe me, I've flunked out of enough schools to know; but I've certainly gotten smarter in the areas that really mattered since the first time we met." He leaned his head down to the point that his face was inches away from the very back of Raven's head. It took all his willpower not to take a deep whiff of the sorceress's dark violet purple hair. Now was not the time to play around just yet. "And as you can see, I made sure to bring a failsafe in the event that the makeshift bomb of this stuff that I had failed to take you out." His grin widened. "And believe you me babe, in the time that unfolds between you're awakening from the initial blackout state and the moment I deliver you to my future boss, we're going to have _quite_ a lot of fun together."

Raven managed with great difficulty to let an angry glare and silent gritted teethed snarl of hatred come on her face, even as the effects of the drug rapidly started to take hold of her. "You . . . dirty . . . little . . . pig," she managed to hiss. Then with an exhausted sigh of defiance, she lost consciousness, her eyes closed, and her head fell down on the ground. The drug had now taken effect, and she was now in the initial state of being completely out cold in a hibernating state of suspended animation.

Adonis smirked, and gently drew the syringe out of the sorceress's neck. "Thank God I brought along spares." And indeed he had brought two spare syringes worth of the 'secret weapon' that the mysterious cloaked figure had provided him with. Admittedly, unlike the considerably larger sample that had been placed within the crystalline box, the two syringe samples were samples that he'd stolen from said cloaked figure. But at that moment, he was confident that, in the end, once he'd finished having his fun with the target and delivered her to his hopeful master-to-be as planned, his successfully completing the test would be enough to allow him to be forgiven for this offense in the event that said master-to-be was aware of the theft.

"But for now," he said to himself, his grin widening once more. "Time to have some fun." He looked over at Raven's belt, his face briefly darkening. "But first." He reached into an area of her cloak and drew out her communicator. "Can't let her wishy washy buddies track her to where I'm taking her." He threw the device over onto an area of ground not too far to his right. "There, this will throw her pals off my trail for a while in the event that they come out to search for her." He looked back over at the unconscious Raven, his smug wolf-like grin of triumph back on his face. "And now," he thought to himself, lifting the sorceress onto his shoulder, "let us be off." No sooner had he gotten Raven sufficiently positioned over his shoulder when he dashed off deeper into the forest from the direction in which he'd initially approached her before throwing the makeshift paralysis bomb, instinctively following the path he'd mentally mapped out that he knew would lead to the place he'd chosen to use for when he had his 'fun'.

. . . . .

Little did Adonis know, however, that hiding out within another area of the forest surrounding the clearing, was another figure who had been sent by the armored boy's hopeful future boss to watch him. And at that moment, was not entirely pleased to have witnessed some of the not entirely pleasant unexpected developments that had ended up unfolding over the course of the incident. And since the eye holes in the figure's mask were fitted with a pair of gadgets that would allow the boss in question to remotely watch the event himself through use of a computer, the figure also had a very strong feeling that the boss would be less than impressed at having witnessed said developments himself.

The masked figure shuddered. "Things had so better not head south after this," she thought to herself. She shook her head side to side with her eyes closed. "Considering the various not entirely pleasant developments I just saw and allowed the master to view, I don't even want to think about how he'll react about them in the event that this boy doesn't have a successfully fulfilled test of worth available to make up for them."

 **Oh no! Raven's been caught! And knowing Adonis, she could very likely have quite an unpleasant experience ahead of her if someone doesn't show up and help! *shudder* But other than that, again I hope that you enjoyed this chapter (not to mention will now be looking extra forward to the chapters to come), read it, and leave plenty of feedback. Remember, I require a minimum of 1 review to be posted for this chapter at any time before or after the completion of the next chapter in order to allow myself to post said new chapter. And with that in mind, I might as well mention right now that this unexpected new character I just introduced at the end of this chapter is not just someone I randomly produced out of thin air for the sake of it. Oh no. Later down the line in my epic continuation of the DCTTAU, she will prove VERY important in the grand scheme of things. It will just take a very long bit of time for you all to find out just how important, or what role she'll play, or exactly who she even is ;). Sound intriguing? I certainly hope so! Again, hoping you enjoyed this chapter (somewhat) and leave plenty of feedback! For now, toodleoo!**

 **Coming up Next: We briefly cut back to the other three founding Titans still at the Tower.**


	14. Meanwhile, Back at the Tower

**What's this?! Another chapter?! Already?! WOW! I must REALLY be on a roll! That being said, here's to hoping that, in spite of this being somewhat of a breather after the last chapter's suspenseful ending note (which you all probably would prefer I be focusing on the resolution to at the current moment), that you still enjoy this new chapter to keep you supported. And in this chapter, we briefly switch back to what's going on at the tower with the 3 founding Titans not present in the forest. Doesn't sound very exciting I know. But believe me, this chapter should still (hopefully) prove worthwhile. That being said, onward with the story!**

 **A/N: But first I must remind you that I do not own Teen Titans. NOW onward with the story!**

 **Chapter 13:**

 **Meanwhile, Back at the Tower**

Robin sighed, and checked the time piece on his communicator. It was now 10:00 at night. "And we still haven't heard any word from Raven," the Boy Wonder thought to himself. He sighed again. "At this rate, she'd definitely better have good reason for the current radio silence."

As of the current moment, about half an hour had passed since Raven's departure from the tower; and the three founders that had stayed behind were now currently the only Titans still in the trashed and utterly destroyed common room. Heck, Robin was quite certain now that at this point they were the only Titans that were both present at the tower and still awake.

All the other Titans, meanwhile, as Robin was quite aware by now, were seemingly quite out of commission. As of about 15 minutes ago, Bushido was back in the Titans South ship, and very likely fast asleep. Kilowatt had arrived back at the tower with Timmy, Teether, Melvin, and Bobby about 5 minutes after Bushido had departed for the ship. And after a concise description of 'things are getting a little hectic right now' to explain the state of the common room and a promise to the kids that Raven would be around to talk with them about their day with 'Uncle Kilo' the next day, the three kids, the giant teddy bear, and the teenage electrokinetic had departed to join their team's leader in their ship.

The other extended team members were likewise unavailable. For some odd reason, Pantha and Red Star flat out would not answer his attempts at calling them or texting them, and neither would Wildebeest. However, considering how the trackers in the devices indicated that they were moving around and appeared likewise not in any danger, he'd decided to let the matter slide in light of the current time and circumstances. Jericho, Kole, and Gnark had arrived right as Kilowatt, Bobby, and the kids were heading out of the common room to go to sleep, and were now asleep themselves in the Titans North ship. Argent and Hotspot were in the forest out camping, but Robin had decided that it would be kinder for him not to interrupt their romantic night out camping unless he believed there was absolutely no other choice but to call them and the others for backup. Thanks to a brief series of texts from Kid Flash, Robin also knew that his old speedster buddy and his probability manipulator girlfriend were currently still busy enjoying themselves at the art gallery, and would likewise be busy for a while. From what he remembered in the 411 that Bumblebee had given him, the concert that she was attending with Herald and the twins wouldn't be over till 11:00, so he knew that they wouldn't entirely be the most viable choice of members to ask for backup just yet. Aqualad and Terra were already back at the apartment complex reserved for Titans East, and likely sleeping by now . . . though hopefully in the sense that they were asleep as opposed to up to something while their teammates weren't around. As for Speedy, Robin shuddered at the memory of his not entirely flattering attempt at calling him. Almost immediately after he had attempted to call him, he had unexpectedly found himself getting quite an earful of some very unexpected noises that had made him feel extremely dirty and promptly hang up without even trying to say a word. Needless to say, the three founders were currently the only Titans who'd be even remotely capable of going out to provide backup for Raven, and potentially Beast Boy, without running the risk of exhaustion or potentially having what was left of their almost certainly quite romantic plans for the day undeservingly cut short.

"Are you ok Robin?"

Robin looked over at Starfire, a sheepish look on his face. Clearly, he had unintentionally made his current state of tense nervousness far more obvious to her then he'd intended.

"I have to agree with Star man," said Cyborg. "You're starting to get all tensed up and your feathers all ruffled up. Everything ok?"

Robin sighed, and hung his head. "I'm ok," he grumbled. He looked out the windows in and in the direction of the forest. "I'm just worried about Raven, and why she's taking so long; not to mention what might potentially be happening to her and Beast Boy right this very moment while we're sitting around here waiting for an alert that may very well yet prove incapable of being made."

Starfire placed her hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. "Fear not Robin," said the Tamaranean. "I'm certain that they will be fine, and that they both have good reason for their current silence of the radio. Please Robin, just relax; I'm sure everything will be perfectly fine."

Robin sighed, and hung his head. "If you say so."

"You know," said Cyborg, a cheeky grin on his face. "Now that I think about, why don't you explain to us while we're waiting why you seemed in such a big hurry to hang up when you tried to call Speedy earlier."

In that moment, Robin felt his heart sink, but this time in unnerved fear. He looked up at Cyborg, a clearly uncomfortable look on his face. "Do you _really_ want to know?"

"You betcha," said Cyborg, a wide smile on his face.

Robin mentally winced, and pointed over at Starfire. "You do understand Starfire's here right?"

"Come on Rob," said Cyborg, his grin widening, clearly not at all deterred by the presence of the Tamaranean princess in his efforts to get the juicy stuff out of Robin.

Robin gritted his teeth, closing his eyes in tense nervousness as he fought to keep it together. "Must I?" he asked.

"Don't you try to back out on this man," said Cyborg, his grin as wide as ever, clearly enjoying watching Robin squirm. "You clearly had a very . . . interesting . . .reason to hang up so quickly in your efforts to contact Speedy not too long ago. And with the look I saw on your masked face when you walked back in here after said attempt at calling him, it's clearly a reason I gotta know." He chuckled, and pointed at Starfire. "Besides," the bionic 20-year old continued, "I'm sure you don't wanna make yourself look like a coward in front of your girl, now do you?" Starfire raised her eyebrows in confusion, but Robin sighed, clearly now feeling that he now definitely had no other choice, though mentally vowing to subject Cyborg to an _extra_ painful experience in tomorrow's training.

"Robin," said Starfire. "You really do not have to do this if you are truly so clearly distressed over it."

"I appreciate your concern Star," said Robin. He looked over towards Cyborg. "But clearly, this situation will require me to give Cyborg what he wants. However, I will gladly accept your moral support afterwards . . . assuming you aren't squicked out or likewise rendered unavailable by the coming corruption."

At the sound of this, Cyborg's eyebrow briefly rose, but he otherwise remained silent. "Surely he's just bluffing," he thought to himself.

Robin took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Well, as you are aware, I was just outside the common room doors when I attempted to call Speedy." He took another deep breath. "Now he managed to respond, no problem in that. However, from the noises I ended up hearing after the call went through, I can honestly admit that the call clearly must have been accepted completely by accident."

"What makes you say that?" Starfire asked.

Cyborg, meanwhile, was now starting to feel more than a little nervous. "Oh God," he thought. "Did Robin actually overhear . . .?"

Robin noticed Cyborg's now gradually increasing look of nervousness and sheepish guilt, and briefly rose his eyebrow. "Was he seriously not expecting me to be talking about . . .?" Then his confused face turned into a smug wolf-like grin. "Oh I am _so_ going to have fun now," he thought to himself.

"Robin?"

Robin looked back at Starfire, clearing his throat in the process. "Sorry, briefly got distracted." He leaned over towards Starfire, who was still listening intently. "Well you see, right as I was about to greet Speedy and start talking with him, I overheard him and some girl laughing."

At the sound of this, Cyborg's heart plummeted. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," he thought to himself. This was most certainly not what Cyborg had been expecting, and it was now entirely his fault that he was now in this current awkward situation.

"There was a girl with him?" Starfire asked.

"Yes," said Robin. "Evidently there was."

Starfire thought to herself. "Ok then, but why would the sound of them laughing together be enough to cause you to so prematurely hang up on Speedy?"

"Don't answer that," Cyborg thought to himself, a grimace now on his face.

"Well," said Robin, "they weren't just laughing. I also heard them moaning and groaning."

Starfire's eyes widened. "You mean they were in pain?!"

"Surprisingly no," Robin responded. He briefly looked over at Cyborg, a wide grin now on his face. "In fact, from their tone of voice, it sounded as if whatever it was they were doing that was responsible for the moaning and groaning was something that they were quite enjoying."

"No, no, no," Cyborg thought to himself. "Crap, why did I open my big mouth?"

"And some comments I managed to hear them make in the midst of all the laughing and groaning likewise hinted at enjoyment of some sort," Robin continued. "For starters, I heard the girl say things like 'Yeah, that's how a real man does it,' among other things."

"Like what?" Starfire asked, now clearly interested in learning more.

"Well," Robin began.

"Stop! Stop! Stop!"

Robin and Starfire turned their heads to face Cyborg, Starfire looking confused and Robin looking smug. "Oh come on Cyborg," said Robin. "I thought you said you gotta know this stuff."

"I wasn't expecting you to talk about . . ." Cyborg looked over at Starfire, now clearly uncertain as to just what to say now that he knew what he'd now just been unwittingly asking Robin to talk about even though the Boy Wonder had already made it clear that Starfire would be present to hear every little detail.

Starfire noticed the awkward pause Cyborg had now taken. "I take it from your current behavior that you were not expecting to hear Robin talking about matters involving sexual content."

At the sound of this, Cyborg _and_ Robin looked at Starfire, eyes widened in stunned shock. "How the heck did you know that?!" they both yelled simultaneously.

Starfire raised her eyebrow as if confused. "I am quite well aware of sex and what it is," said Starfire.

"And how might that be possible?" Cyborg asked, subtly glaring at Robin, who glared at Cyborg as if silently asking 'what makes you think it was me?'.

"My knorfka Galfore," Starfire responded. "Five years ago, before the war with the Gordanians that resulted in my capture and being placed on that ship I escaped from when I first came here on Earth and we met and formed our team, Galfore told me and my sister exactly what sex was as well as how the Gordanians would likely be willing to rape us in the event that they took us prisoner so that we would know what to expect in the event that we lost the war."

Immediately after hearing this, Robin and Cyborg looked each other in the eyes awkwardly, clearly now quite uncertain as to what to say in response to this. Starfire caught onto this. "Have I done something wrong?"

"No," Robin responded almost instantaneously. "Nothing wrong at all. Cy and I are just surprised by your unexpected knowledge, that's all."

"Yeah," said Cyborg. He pointed at Robin. "What he said."

Robin nodded. Then he thought to himself. "Well, since I don't seem to need to worry anymore, I guess I can safely admit that, Speedy certainly seemed to be doing a pretty good job at the whole business considering it's his first time."

This information was enough to shock both Starfire and Cyborg. "Say what?" said Cyborg.

"I kid you not," said Robin. "This sexual foray that Speedy seems to have gotten himself into is his first time. As of this night, he is finally no longer a virgin."

"He was a virgin till _now_?" Cyborg asked. "But all that stuff he's said. . ."

"All just jokes and talking tough," said Robin. "Believe me Cyborg, if you'd known him as long as I have, it would have been obvious to you to."

"Please," said Starfire. "Just how long have you known friend Speedy?"

"Known him since I was 11," said Robin. His smile widened. "And while I'm at it, I've also known Kid Flash since I was _9_."

"You certainly did seem especially chummy with them," Cyborg admitted. "Heck, when we encountered Speedy during our experiences with the Master of Games, you certainly were acting as if you'd already met him before."

"And for good reason," said Robin. He nodded his head. "Like I said, Speedy, Kid Flash, and I go way back." Then he thought to himself. "Heck, now that I think about it, I was also pretty good friends with Wonder Girl as well back in the day before she joined the team last year."

"Fat lot of good that did," Cyborg grumbled.

Robin sighed. "Look Cyborg, I get it. I'm just as unhappy with her as you are for not showing up to help us last year during the Brotherhood crisis." He then pointed at Cyborg. "But hey, for the record, Speedy's considerably angrier at her for that then both of us combined."

Cyborg looked over at Robin, his eyebrow raised. "And why would that be?" Cyborg asked.

"Because in the time we all knew each other before I left Gotham City," Robin explained, "he and Wonder Girl used to date each other."

Cyborg was left speechless by this revelation. He had _not_ seen that coming. "They what?" he then asked.

"You heard me," said Robin. "Speedy and Wonder Girl? They used to have a thing together."

Cyborg thought to himself, and then shrugged and nodded. "I'll admit, now that I think about it, I can actually see that happening."

"I will admit," said Starfire. "I am now very much more confused than before now as to why friend Wonder Girl never came to help us last year during the war with the Brotherhood of Evil." She looked over at Robin. "Especially now that I am aware that she used to be both a good friend of yours and the girlfriend of Speedy."

Robin sighed. "Well if there's one thing she shares with her mentor," the Boy Wonder exclaimed, "it's a firm dosage of honor before reason." He gritted his teeth. "That, and her strong undying loyalty to her family."

"How's that last one a bad thing?" Cyborg asked.

"Well it's not such a bad thing, per se, for Wonder Woman," said Robin. "After all, with everything she's been through with her allies on the Justice League, she's reached the point that she views them as family just as much as she views the Amazons as her family, not to mention used to have a thing for Batman." He took a deep breath, and then sighed. "Donna, however, hasn't quite reached that point in her friendship with me and the other boys she used to hang out with back in the day. And as a result, she chose to take the route she viewed as more personally honorable by staying in Themyscira with the Amazons where she'd be safe instead of doing the _right_ thing and helping us out."

With a growl, Robin clenched his fist and slammed it down on the counter of the kitchen island. "I mean sure, Kid Flash kept himself hidden in his civilian identity in his uncle's house whenever he wasn't out crime fighting, but he at least came out of hiding with Jinx when the time was right and we needed him most. Did Wonder Girl do that? No she didn't." He lifted his head up, his already angry glare turning into an even angrier look. "Heck, by this point, just about everyone on this team knows about my deal. So if she knows about it like everyone else on the team, why hasn't she _still_ not dropped by? As her friend, she could at least have the decency to wish me luck!"

At that moment, Cyborg found himself awkwardly thinking to himself, "Ok, maybe I shouldn't have started this conversation." Now that he was seeing Robin getting so angry about Wonder Girl's 'no show' status during the previous year's drama with the Brotherhood of Evil or even now when he himself was at risk of a very real afterlife danger, Cyborg couldn't help but wonder if he'd perhaps only made things even worse then he'd initially thought he had by bringing up the topic of Wonder Girl. In seeing how angry Robin was getting and having heard the Boy Wonder say that Speedy was even _angrier_ , Cyborg now felt as if his own brief flash of anger was miniscule in comparison.

Robin turned around and kicked an already broken kitchen cabinet door, snarling in rage. "SOME FRIEND SHE TURNED OUT TO BE!" In that moment, Cyborg winced, now knowing that he _definitely_ shouldn't have brought the matter up.

Starfire placed a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. Please Robin. Calm down. What's done is done. Raging around about it will not change that. And besides, you still have all of us as true friends. Let it go for the time being."

Robin briefly stayed silent, snarling and grumbling. Then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded his head. He looked at Starfire. "You're right," he said. "I'm sorry."

Starfire nodded. "It is alright Robin," she responded. "It is understandable that you'd feel as justifiably betrayed and angry as you currently feel towards the girl of wonder for her apparent backstabbing against us, but especially against you and Speedy, in never coming to help us during the Brotherhood crisis." She placed her other hand on Robin's other shoulder. "But even so, please try to keep your anger towards her in check. She may yet prove still worthy of your friendship. Naïve as you may find it, this approach worked for Terra, and currently seems correct enough for Jinx. If they were able to truly prove worthy of our friendship, then hopefully so will Wonder Girl."

Cyborg chuckled. "You gotta admit Rob, your girlfriend's sure got a point there."

Robin smiled, and shook his head side to side in a clearly loving gesture. "Don't ever change Star," said the Boy Wonder. "Don't ever change."

Starfire smiled. "Thank you," said the Tamaranean.

In that instant, the Titans heard an electronic beep, and they drew out their communicators. At the sight of what greeted them on the screens, their eyes widened. They could now see the mapped out coordinates of what was clearly Raven's communicator, and it was now emitting a distress call.

Robin looked up from his communicator, his game face on. "Titans," said the Boy Wonder. "We've got work to do."

. . . . .

Beast Boy couldn't help but let a smile come on his face as he held up Raven's communicator with his finger firmly pressing the button that would initiate the distress signal. "Thank God Adonis is such an idiot," he thought to himself. "Any smarter villain would have probably destroyed this, or at least taken the time to place it in a location that would prove more obstructive in efforts at searching for him and Raven." The shapeshifter's grin widened. "But thanks to his natural brainlessness, here I am, with Raven's communicator that he conveniently left right here in the middle of this very destroyed clearing in my hand and with the distress signal triggered."

And indeed, Beast Boy had arrived a mere moment ago. He'd still been flying around above the forest as an owl when he'd finally gotten his attention attracted by the sound of loud noises and the sight of bursts of flame, lightning, and similar bright bursts of energy. At that point, he'd hurriedly flown in the direction of the obvious battle as fast as he could. Unfortunately, by the time he'd arrived and landed, whoever had been responsible for the combat had already departed. However, with both the knowledge he'd gained before he'd taken to the air combined with the sight of the communicator he'd noticed lying around in the destruction zone, he'd taken only seconds to identify the site as the scene of a battle between Adonis and Raven, and deduce that Adonis had won and carried Raven off. But fortunately, since Adonis had brainlessly left Raven's communicator intact and right in the area where the battle had occurred, Beast Boy had now been able to take steps to unravel whatever he had planned for the sorceress; and at exactly 10:00 in the evening to boot.

Beast Boy turned around, his eyes narrowed into a glare as he looked in the direction that appeared very obviously to be the one that Adonis had taken; at least from his perspective anyway. "And now my friends will also know exactly where to find me, Raven, _and_ Adonis." His eyes narrowed again, and his teeth gritted into a silent snarl. "But hopefully, by the time they've arrived, _I'll_ have already taken the bastard down myself!"

And indeed, the shapeshifter very much hoped to be able to arrive first and take down the arrogant blowhard himself. Beast Boy snarled, this time rather audibly. "He's my enemy, my nemesis, my personal business, my rival." His eyes then noticeably took on a very noticeably cat-like form, his pupils narrowed into slits. "And he's got my girl." He crouched down, clearly ready to charge off to the rescue, and briefly sniffed the air to confirm that he was about to charge off in the right direction. "And he's gonna rue this day for eternity." Without another word, Beast Boy slipped the communicator into his mouth, gently grasping it with his teeth, and then morphed into a lion. With a snarl just loud enough to indicate that he meant business but lose enough to avoid causing damage to the all-important communicator, he lunged forward and started dashing down the path that Adonis had taken in his departure with Raven.

As it turned out, following the path and finding Adonis's location would prove quite easy, and Beast Boy mentally smiled at his current ease at following the trail to wherever Adonis and Raven were currently located. "Don't you worry Rae," the green big cat thought to himself as he charged through the forest down the trail that Adonis had taken her down. "I'm coming. And there ain't no way in Hell that I'm gonna let that monster have his way with you. I didn't let him do it to you back then, and I never will. Not now, not ever. I'm gonna save you, whether that sick freak wants me to or not!"

 **And just like that, another chapter done! And yet another short one to! But hey, that's no shame. ^_^ That being said, I again hope you enjoyed this chapter and that you leave plenty of feedback. As usual, I require a minimum of 1 review before I post the next chapter (and even with 1 review, I still need to have it be finished and capable of being posted as well). And I might as well mention this now. Yeah, the way I see it, Donna Troy's Wonder Girl managed to be absent from the final battles with the Brotherhood of Evil in Season 5 in spite of being listed within the Brotherhood's database and presumably being given a communicator at some point or other as a result of riding it all out from within the safety of Themyscira (I mean come on, I'm sure even the Brotherhood of Evil would know not to take the Amazons of all people lightly). And also, as I'm pretty sure I mentioned in Robin's dialogue, I also believe that Kid Flash and Jinx were able to stay in hiding from the Brotherhood the entire time by hiding out with the Flash (and in Kid Flash's case, with the additional added security of his secret identity). And yeah, in that case, I'm sure it would be understandable that the Titans be not entirely pleased with Wonder Girl for being a no show during all the Brotherhood of Evil business. And that being said, I also believe that it would be especially appropriate for Robin, Speedy, Aqualad, and Kid Flash in particular to be considerably angrier about her not showing up then any of the other Titans due to having in the past been such good friends of her's (and in Speedy's case once being her boyfriend). So yeah, definitely make a note of all this. It may seem minor for the current moment; but much later down the line in my continuation of the DCTTAU, these details could yet prove worth remembering. And that's all I need to say for now. Time to get back to work on writing the first of two chapters that focus on Beast Boy getting to some much needed work on saving Raven from the vile and disgusting Adonis!**

 **Coming up next: Raven wakes up from the drug in time to find herself still immobilized as well as being held prisoner by Adonis, who is more than willing to have a little 'fun' with her now that she's in his grasp and rendered immobile, powerless, and helpless. However, Beast Boy is on his way, and he's got his own plans in mind to counter the more vile ones that Adonis has in mind.**


	15. Damsel in Distress

**Here, my friends, is a new chapter! Ready for more Teen Titan-ic awesomeness?! I certainly hope so, cuz here it comes! In this chapter, Raven wakes up, and thus transfers from stage 1 to stage 2 of the paralysis drug's effects, and finds herself very much in the clutches of her very, very, very abhorrent admirer, who's got very despicable plans for her indeed. Will Beast Boy or any other favorable circumstance unfold in time to prevent our favorite half demon sorceress from being horribly violated or similarly done wrong by one of the relatively least threatening, yet at the same time most heinous, villain the Titans have ever known? Only one way to find out people! And that being said, here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy!**

 **A/N: Real quick, I'd best remind you once again that I do not own Teen Titans. NOW onward with the story!**

 **Chapter 14:**

 **Damsel in Distress**

It seemed like it took almost an hour before Raven finally managed to open her eyes, and she let out a low groan of fatigue to indicate her difficulty in getting herself to wake up. When she finally managed to wake up and get her eyes fully opened, she groaned again and tried to shake her head side to side to strengthen the feeling . . . only to discover that she couldn't move her head.

Her eyes widened in horror as the entirety of the previous events came rushing back to her. "No," she thought to herself as she stared at the ceiling of the cave she was in and remembered with terror how she'd been afflicted with the paralysis concoction. As of her waking up, she had now been released from suspended animation, but now was stuck in the second stage, awake and in paralysis. Granted, it was slightly less total compared to how it was implied. She could still talk and move her eyes, and she still had her basic senses. But otherwise, she could not move, and neither could she use her powers.

She gritted her teeth, genuinely afraid, and in fact feeling more terrified about how she was feeling so obviously afraid without her powers acting up about it for once. "This is bad," she thought to herself. Admittedly, this information was pretty obvious, but really she couldn't blame herself for thinking such thoughts in her current situation. Then the full import of how she was positioned hit her, and her eyes widened again. "I'm lying down," she thought to herself. "And I'm on my back."

In that instant, it took all her willpower not to scream or burst out crying from terror. She knew all she needed to know to realize just how screwed she was at risk of being under the current circumstances. "No," she thought to herself. "Oh God, please no; this can't be happening, it can't." She grimaced. "Why me?"

Then she thought of something else, and her heart sank even further. "I didn't even get the chance to send out a distress signal; and now I won't get that chance." And indeed she currently appeared very likely to never get that chance. She had no idea if she even still had her communicator on her at this point following her confrontation with Adonis. And even in the unlikely event that it was still on her, she certainly wasn't in any condition to draw it out and sound the alarm.

At this point, her only chance at escape from what would almost certainly be a very unpleasant fate would be for Adonis to somehow choose to wait and bide his time before having his 'fun' with her long enough for the drug to wear off sufficiently enough to allow her to fight her way out. But even that was a sketchy at best. She had no idea of the exact dosage she'd received, and she didn't even know how long she'd been in the unconscious state of suspended animation. Therefore, she really didn't even have any idea herself how long it would take for the current state she was in to wear off, and she wasn't entirely certain whether or not Adonis himself would know. She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth. "God," she mentally prayed. "If you still care about me enough to allow me into Heaven again like you did last year, then please, let me make it out of this situation unharmed in any way, shape, and form. Grant me this prayer, and I promise I'll never willingly refrain from praying every night before I sleep or doubt your existence ever again."

"Finally awake huh? Took you long enough."

Raven's eyes snapped wide open with shock and horror. She moved her eyes so that she could just a slight view of the area in front of where her feet were positioned, and saw none other then a somewhat limited view of Adonis walking towards her from that very direction, a small grin on his face, and with his armor still on.

At the sight of the look on Raven's face, Adonis chuckled. "Oh come on," he said. "No need to keep up the façade. We both know you've been looking forward to this moment ever since we met."

Raven gritted her teeth, silently snarling in rage at the boy's continued arrogant belief that she had even the slightest twinge of feelings for him that weren't outright disgust. "Typical rapist," she thought to herself. "Always believing that girls who say no are playing hard to get and mean yes when they say nothing but the exact opposite."

Adonis came to a stop, still smiling, and placed his armored fists on his sides as if posing for a medal. "I will admit, I wasn't entirely certain how long it would take for you to wake up. I mean, I had guessed that it would likely not last nearly as long as it would have if you'd been successfully taken out by that makeshift bomb designed to release the considerably higher dosage of that stuff's gas form. But hey, with stuff like this, you can never be too careful, and we all know what they say about making assumptions."

Adonis shook his head side to side, still smiling proudly to himself. "But hey, you're awake now. And judging from your current state, I'd say you woke up about one or two minutes ago. And since it's now 10:17, that would mean you were unconscious for about 15 minutes." He walked on over towards Raven again before coming to a stop just inches away from the bottoms of her feet, thus allowing enough of himself to be in Raven's view for her to see that he'd managed to find the battery for his upgrades that she'd removed during their battle and placed it back in its original spot. "And assuming the second stage of the drug takes a reasonably longer amoung of time to wear off then the 1st stage even in spite of you're having been exposed to a smaller dosage then originally intended, I'm sure we'll have plenty of time for a nice good bit of fun."

Raven made another silent snarl, but inside she was both angry and terrified. "By Azar," she thought to herself. "Why me?" Indeed, her situation was not looking very good.

. . . . .

The green lion continued rushing down the blaringly obvious trail that his armored rival had left, growling and snarling as much as the communicator in his teeth allowed. "Hang on Raven," he thought to himself. "I'm coming."

And indeed Beast Boy was coming. In fact, even as he continued right that very moment in his headlong dash down the trail that Adonis had left, the very strong smell was getting just as strong as all the other obvious signs of Adonis's presence were. His lion form's eyes narrowed, and he let out another carefully planned snarl. As soon as he made it to his destination, he was going to make Adonis pay. "He'd better not have done a thing to Raven by the time I get there," he thought to himself. "If he has, then God curse him, I don't care what Robin says, I am personally sending him down to Hell where he belongs."

Galvanized by the anger and determination that burst up in him upon thinking these thoughts, the green lion made a mighty leap across a good couple yards or so before continuing his epic dash mere seconds after landing, another careful snarl popping out of his mouth in the process. "Hang in there Rae," he thought to himself. "By Heaven please hang in there Rae. Regardless of what's happening now or by the time I arrive, I will save you."

. . . . .

Adonis remained standing where he was, grinning like an idiot, and his hands clasped together with his fingers intertwined. In fact, he'd been standing there like this for quite a few minutes, and it was even 10:20 now to boot. Raven, in spite of her fear, couldn't help but raise her eyebrow in clear confusion. "Why in Azar's name is he still just standing there?" she thought to herself. "He already admitted he doesn't know for certain how long it will take for the drug to wear off. If we wanted to do anything to me before that happened, he should be already doing it right now instead of wasting time and running the risk of it wearing off in time for me to kick his ass and prevent him from doing anything."

Adonis chuckled, and shook his head side to side. "Ah," he said out loud. "Never gets old looking at a sweet piece of eye candy like you." His grin widened, his eyes agleam with sleaze. "The rumors may say your half demon, but your body is clearly that on angel."

Raven snarled, and this time very audibly. "If you wanted to torture me before doing whatever it is you want, just having me look at you is torture enough." She snorted, and directed her eyes so that she was looking more towards the cave wall behind her head then at Adonis. "Besides, you're wasting your time anyway, and in more ways than one. You said so yourself, you could very well have considerably less time than planned with the dosage you gave me. And even if I had gotten the dosage you'd originally planned, I'm not in the mood for games. If you want to defile me, then just get it over with."

"And have it all be finished so soon?" Adonis made a 'tsk-tsk' noise, shaking his head side to side. "Please," he said. "Do you not grasp the magnitude of what I am on the verge of achieving? I've been dreaming of this moment for at least 3 years now; all since the day we first met. With something like that, you can't just rush in and make it all over without even getting the chance to truly appreciate it. No way. A moment like this? It must be savored. Yes, at all costs, it must be savored."

Raven gritted her teeth, clenching her eyes shut at the same time. "As if the fact that he's a rapist isn't enough," she thought to herself, "he just has to have a cruel side to it as well."

"And I'll admit, even I'm smart enough to know that usually it's a pretty dumb idea to go prattling on about stuff in my position, especially considering how well that's ended for all the other schmucks in my place that I've seen in the movies." He grinned. "Still, with the current circumstances, plus the ones soon to come when we're finished here, I'd say it ought to be safe just this once for me to crow around a little."

Adonis chuckled, turned around, and started slowly walking in a circle around the low flat bed of rocks that Raven, unbound, yet still unable to move, was lying down upon. "You see babe," the armored boy began. "As much as I'm in this for the sheer joy of finally achieving this big huge dream we've both been longing for since day 1, my personal joy ain't the only reason I'm up to my current antics right now. No way."

Raven raised her eyebrow, still glaring hatefully at the armored boy. "You expect me to believe that?" she growled. "A person as dumb as you doing stuff like this for anything but their own fun? You?"

"You've certainly got that right," said Adonis. "I sure as Hell ain't the sharpest tool in the shed." He chuckled at the angry grimace that came on Raven's face. "Well hey, no reason to be offended it its true." He chuckled again, shaking his head side to side in the process. At this point, he was now just starting to walk across the area located directly behind the top of Raven's head. "Believe me, if I were in your shoes, I'd totally find it just as hard to believe. But in this case, I'm not kidding. I've got other reasons behind this little spree. Cuz the thing is, this very dream of mine that I'm now so close to achieving? Turns out, it actually got assigned to me only yesterday as a test of worth for working with some new guy in town who hopes to recruit me for some bigshot army of villains in the making he's working on setting up."

Raven's eyes widened, her sarcastic retort she'd prepared now quite forgotten.

"Yeah that's right," said Adonis. "Just because I had bad luck the last time I worked as someone's underling doesn't mean I'm gonna give up just yet on working for someone else. And to put it simply, this potential new boss of mine has big plans that I may yet get the honor of working with him on if I succeed in tonight's little test." He chuckled. "Granted, the part that I've been dreaming about wasn't exactly included in the description of my task, but my future boss did give me the added bonus of being allowed to have as much fun with you as I wanted in between your initial capture and the moment I present you to him dead or alive like he requested. As long as I've met back up with him and presented you to him by midnight, I'm free to both have all the fun with you I've ever wanted and become a brand new recruit of what he hopes to be an army of villains just as worthy of fear and respect as the Legion of Doom; potentially even better than them according to what he said."

Adonis paused in his walking, turning his head directly at Raven from his current position, a wide grin on his face. "And since I'm already at it, I might as well go ahead and tell you what I know about my future boss. After all, you'll be meeting him soon enough anyway." He turned around so that he had his entire body facing Raven's direction. "I'll admit, I don't know an extremely large amount to be honest. I mean, with that huge black cloak he was wearing, there was very little else I could use to identify him by aside from his eyes. And trust me, when a person has creepy pupilless red eyes peeking out at you from under the hood of his cloak, you don't forget him in a hurry."

Upon hearing this description, Raven found her mind moving at about a thousand miles per minute as she considered the possibility of just who this figure that Adonis was talking about actually was. In particular, she could now remember a moment from the Titans' adventures with Geo-Force the previous summer how Geo-Force had mentioned something about a figure dressed in a black cloak with pupilless red eyes had been responsible for subjecting him to the mind control that had caused him to go rogue. And now, hearing this very same description given by Adonis about his apparent hopeful boss-to-be, she couldn't help but wonder, was this figure and the one responsible for the Geo-Force adventure the previous summer one and the same?

"In fact," Adonis continued, "according to what he tells me, he apparently tried to increase his membership last summer, but with less than impressive results. And since then, he's been laying low; until now, with a new and improved effort at finding worthy and willing recruits. I will admit though, he seemed to put particularly strong emphasis on 'willing' for some reason."

"That definitely confirms it," Raven thought to herself. "To many coincidences otherwise."

"But enough of that for now," said Adonis. "At this point, he was now back at his original position from before he'd begun circling around Raven. "Time for some fun."

Raven's eyes widened. "No," she thought to herself. "By Azar, please no."

For a heart stopping few seconds, Adonis remained standing where he was, grinning maniacally in triumph. Then he chuckled, and shook his head side to side. "No," he said. "Not yet. I can still savor the moment just a few minutes or so more." He turned around, chuckled again, and calmly walked away back in the direction leading to the exit of the cave.

Raven remained tensed up for about a minute, making absolutely sure that Adonis would be indeed gone for a while. She exhaled in relief, and relaxed. "At least now I have a little bit more time," she thought to herself. Then she grimaced. "But by Azar, this drug had better wear off soon, or I don't know what I'm going to do."

. . . . .

Beast Boy the lion was still running down the trail at 10:25, the exact same moment that Adonis had departed from the cave to savor his coming personal triumph for a little while longer, and he was snarling and growling in a mixture of rage and triumph as he recognized clear as day how very close he was getting to reaching the destination where Adonis and Raven were located. And he was looking forward to the coming confrontation.

"Almost there," he thought to himself.

Confident as ever with his current circumstances, the green lion made another bold leap forward before landing and resuming his brisk running through the forest down the trail left by Adonis. He let out another carefully performed snarl. "Adonis will pay," he thought to himself.

Then he thought of another thing. "Raven doesn't know help is coming," he thought to himself fearfully. "I've got to do something to let her know not to abandon all hope, but how can I do that without making it obvious to Adonis as well?"

Then he realized something else, and he found himself mentally smiling. "Of course," he thought. "My emotional feedback." He mentally chuckled at his moment of genius. "I set it back to my usual state of guard after last night. But now, knowing what I know, and being aware of the very noticeable difference Raven noted between my emotional feedback from before and after that other day, might as well let it back down again."

The shape shifter kept on running, but now with his eyes closed and his mouth slowly inhaling and exhaling deep breaths to calm down sufficiently enough to properly let down his emotional guard. After what felt like an eternity to the changeling, but in reality was only about a minute or two following his realization of how to send a hope signal, the green lion's eyes opened, and the shape shifter simultaneously sent his familiar emotional guard wall crumble down for the second time that week, not to mention in his life. "Definitely no need to worry now Rae," he thought to himself for good measure. "I'm coming. And now, you'll detect me coming from miles away."

. . . . .

At 10:30, Raven was still lying down on the stone surface of the makeshift bed of stones, still waiting to notice at least some easily recognized sign of the drug wearing off, yet at the same time feeling wary about Adonis potentially coming back while she was still under the effects of the drug.

And the fact that she still hadn't noticed any obvious signs of feeling different as a result of the drug wearing off made her feel a good deal more worried than before. After all, one thing she knew that Adonis didn't appear to be aware of was how both phases of the drug's effects lasted for the exact same amount of time, and at the maximum dosage typically capable of being taken at once without dying, both phases lasted for an hour each. And since she had woken up from stage 1 into stage 2 after only 15 minutes according to Adonis, then that meant that as of the current moment, the drug should have completely worn off by now. Yet she even now still didn't feel any different than she had when she'd woken up in the first place. "Come on, come on," Raven thought to herself, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth as if silently willing herself to break free from the effects of the drug. "Wear off already." She opened her eyes, glaring up towards the cavern ceiling. "I'm waiting," she mentally growled.

All of a sudden, she felt a very unexpected presence suddenly flood her mind . . . a very surprisingly familiar presence. For a brief moment, she was confused as she tried to remember why this mental presence felt so familiar. Then her eyes widened as she realized how it seemed not so much like a telepathic presence, but rather an almost indecipherably tangled and muddled ocean of emotions mixed and molded together into a big, fat, glaringly bright beacon. And with that description now entering her head, she now remembered how she'd only ever seen such an overwhelmingly obvious emotional feedback in one person. Without even thinking, she unconsciously lifted her right hand up to her forehead as if in awe. "Beast Boy," she thought to herself, clearly feeling glad to have both once again been exposed to the emotional beacon that she'd found herself missing over the course of the entire day till now and received proof that at least one of her teammates was on the way to help her out.

Then she finally realized how her right hand was positioned, and she lifted it skyward, now even more surprised. Granted, she still didn't feel any different in regards to how she'd felt while the drug was obviously active and this current moment. But now, with how her hand had now just moved twice, it was now clear that in spite of not feeling any different, the drug had worn off, and she mentally kicked herself for not thinking of doing the simple task of testing her theory about the timing by just trying to move. "By Azar," she thought to herself. "This drug is already designed to paralyze its victims' bodies; does it seriously have to addle their minds to?"

Then she realized something else that she could go ahead and test. She turned her head to her left, extending her left arm towards a nearby stalagmite. She concentrated hard, clenching her eyes shut and gritting her teeth as she desperately tried to summon the familiar feeling of the more combat-based aspect of her powers. "Azarath . . . Metrion . . . Zinthos." Her head and arm collapsed back into their positions from before her effort at using her powers, panting in exhaustion with her eyes open once more. "Ok," she thought to herself. "So I don't yet have my powers completely back yet. But at least I can move."

"Hate to break it to you baby doll, but that drug I've got you all doped up on aint gonna wear off just by you willing it to."

Raven directed her eyes towards the direction she'd heard this voice, and they narrowed upon catching sight of Adonis standing confidently nearby with his hands on his hips and a smug smirk back on his face. Clearly, the armored boy had only arrived back from his last bit of moment savoring fairly recently, as he clearly still believed that Raven was under the effects of the drug and powerless to stop him; something he'd definitely not be thinking if he'd been present to see her move her hand and arms not too long ago.

The armored boy chuckled, and gingerly stroked a small area on what appeared to be a mechanical belt around his waist where a large circular button was positioned. "Oh this is going to be so much fun," he said out loud more to himself then to Raven. He briefly positioned himself as if about to start walking towards her. Then he paused. "But first." He drew out a syringe from his armor. The syringe in question, Raven couldn't help but notice, was twice as big as the one he'd used to inject her with the drug dosage that had not too long ago worn off. Raven mentally glowered. "What an idiot," she thought to herself. "Surely he should have been able to guess that the dosage in that syringe would have left me immobilized for a Hell of a lot longer than the dosage in that other syringe." Nonetheless, she was now quite glad that he had used the other syringe instead of this one. Otherwise, she'd have been in considerably bigger trouble at the current moment.

"Best place this somewhere safe so I don't run the risk of it falling out, breaking, and taking me out when I take off my armor." Adonis gently placed the syringe on the cave floor, took a couple steps back so as to be absolutely positive that he wouldn't step on it by mistake, and then turned away from it to face Raven. His smile returned. "Showtime babe," the armored boy purred. With a chuckle, he started slowly, yet very clearly confidently, started walking towards her.

In that instant, Raven knew that Adonis had finally chosen to stop messing around and decided that he'd savored the moment long enough. Unless either she did something right now or Beast Boy arrived within the next few seconds, Adonis would have his way with her. She looked back over Beast Boy's glowingly obvious emotional output. She noticed that it was starting to get slightly stronger in a way that indicated he was getting close, and fast; but sadly, not fast enough. She mentally grimaced. It appeared she would have to somehow take of herself long enough for the changeling to arrive to finish the job.

Then she directed her eyes back towards the still slowly advancing Adonis, and her eyes narrowed again, but this time in intrigue at the circular button on his armor's belt. Now that she thought about it, perhaps maybe this button would be a very useful element in allowing her to give herself time to hold out for a rescue. At least, that is, assuming it had the function she now currently suspected it to have.

Adonis finally came to a stop right at Raven's feet. He chuckled in glee. "Finally," he said out loud more to himself than anyone else. "The moment I've been waiting for."

"Now or never," Raven thought to herself. She looked up towards Adonis. "I guess it wouldn't hurt then to tell you a little secret."

Naturally, Adonis paused upon hearing these words. Then a small smirk came on his face. Clearly, he was thinking exactly what Raven had hoped he'd be thinking. "I knew it," she thought to herself with a mental smirk of triumph. "He thinks I'm about to admit to his delusions."

Adonis chuckled, and folded his arms across his chest in smug triumph. "Well go on ahead babe," said the armored boy. "I'm all ears."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Perhaps it would be easier if you were to lean down?"

"Sure thing." Adonis leaned over, and very worrisomely close to Raven for that matter. But thankfully he was still far enough away to allow Raven room to move, yet close enough for the all-important button to be within reach of Raven's grasp. "Well come on now darling," Adonis purred. He leaned his head so that his ear would be located close enough for Raven to directly whisper around that area. "Tell me babe. I gotta know."

Raven took a deep breath, and then exhaled. She opened her eyes. "Go to Hell."

In a flash, she lifted up her right arm and pressed the button. Adonis had just enough time for his eyes to widen at the sound of the noise made by Raven's pressing the button when his armor suddenly loosened around him and spectacularly retracted into an impossibly well-fitting series of compartments within the belt. No sooner had his armor been unexpectedly stripped off of him earlier then he'd planned, when he managed to have just enough time to place a hand on his chest as if to further confirm the unexpected development before Raven proceeded to give him a kick to his chest with both her feet and send him stumbling backwards and away from her. No sooner had Adonis finally managed to get himself to stop his stumbling when Raven managed to weakly catapult herself off of the makeshift bed and back onto her feet, striking a battle pose in the process. Upon doing this, she directed a calm and emotionless glare towards her abhorrent admirer, more than willing to continue trying to fight him off even though she knew that she was still both cut off from her actual combat-oriented powers as well as physically weak enough to just barely be able to stand without wobbling. "It ends now," she thought to herself.

Adonis finally managed to get his voice back, and he pointed at Raven, an incredulous look on his face. "But," he stammered. "How?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Need you even ask?" she grumbled in an almost spiteful tone. "Clearly, you wasted too much time." She folded her arms across her chest, still trying her best to disguise how very risky a sense of balance she currently had. "You yourself noticed that the first stage only lasted 15 minutes, ¼ as long as it would have if I'd succumbed to your initially planned dosage. And now, knowing that both stages last the exact same amount of time, it's clearly been another 15 minutes. And as you can see, I'm now free as a bird." She let a small smirk cross her face. "Pun intended."

Adonis mentally cursed. He had completely forgotten that little detail. "I knew I should have paid more attention to the rest of what my future boss said when he was giving me all the details about that drug," he thought to himself. But even as he thought of all this, he allowed no sign of his current thoughts and frantic state of mind to show. He gritted his teeth and glared at Raven, but the effect was largely reduced by the fact that he was no longer in his armor. "Well played witch," he growled. "Well played."

"I warned you about this," growled a considerably angrier voice in his mind.

Adonis ignored his inner Beast, and pointed his finger at Raven defiantly. "You may have delayed the inevitable this time girl." He narrowed his eyes and leaned his head forward threateningly. "But you're not gonna get away from me tonight that easily just yet."

"Oh really?" Raven responded, her tone still masterfully allowing herself to seemingly appear more confident and powerful then she currently was. "As you can see, the drug's worn off, and I'm no longer immobilized. And that, combined with how you're currently no longer properly suited up the way you prefer to be in times of combat, means I'm more than capable of kicking your ass and taking you out without too much effort."

Adonis chuckled. "Nice try babe," he responded. "But even I know it's not gonna be quite that simple this time." He folded his arms across his chest, admittedly looking somewhat more comical then intimidating now that he was currently no longer dressed up in his armor, but his next words more than made up for his lack of intimidating physical appearance. "You see, under most other circumstances, you'd be absolutely right," he admitted. "After all, under normal circumstances, I would be at a glaringly obvious disadvantage against you, not to mention anyone else in your team, now that you've stripped me out of my armor." He pointed his finger at Raven once more. "However," he continued. "In spite of my having not paid enough attention to my future boss to be able to remember that one little detail about the timing that you've now given me a firm reminder about, I did pay just enough attention to know that it still takes a respectable amount of time for the victims to recover even after the drug initially wears off following the end of the second stage."

Adonis thought to himself, clearly working to do the necessary math in his head. "As you've now reminded me, both stages last for the exact same amount of time. You first got injected and succumbed to the effects at 10:00, then you woke up at 10:15." He closed his eyes, gritting his teeth as he worked to try to figure out the rest of the math. "It's about 10:33 now," said Adonis. "And since you obviously must have regained your ability to move at 10:30 if I'm doing the math right, that means you've still got a good bit of time left to wait before you're even at full physical strength, let alone before you fully regain your other abilities."

Adonis opened his eyes, a more confident look now coming back onto his face as he found himself mentally treading somewhat more familiar waters. "Therefore, right now I'd say we're in about the same weight class." Then his eyes lit up as he seemingly had an epiphany. "In fact, even though we're now even in regards to weight class, I actually still have an advantage against you in the current circumstances." He turned his head to face Raven once more. "You see; I'm used to moving around at the level of strength I have when not in my armor. You, on the other hand, are very likely just barely able to stand up straight without the risk of potentially wobbling or falling over. Also, you're used to letting your magic do all the work and have little to know experience with physical combat. And even when you're physically tired and weak, you usually still at least have you magic to back you up. But now, with a mixture of inexperience at physical combat, a temporary lockdown on your magic, and being just barely strong enough to even stand upright on your own two feet, I should somewhat be just strong enough to have a reasonable advantage against you even without my armor on."

The boy looked down at his belt. "Granted, I suppose I could go ahead and press this button and get my armor back on," he admitted. Then he thought to himself. "Nah," he said. "In your current condition," he then continued, pointing his finger at Raven once more. "I suppose it would be much more of a fair fight between us if I left my armor off. In fact," he unclipped his belt, lifted it up as if to guarantee that Raven would get a good look at the sight of it in his hand, and then threw it backwards over his shoulder. The belt landed on the ground and bounced clean out of the cave. "There," said Adonis. "Now we've definitely got ourselves guaranteed a fair fight."

Raven, defiant as ever, still showed absolutely no sign of feeling nervous, even though she knew full well that Adonis was very likely correct on all counts this time. "Interesting theories," she stated dryly. "But it's going to take a whole lot more than just talking tough to get me to believe you."

"Oh, but that's the beauty of theories," Adonis stated. He tensed himself up into a somewhat reasonable fighting stance. "You get to test them." He grinned, and nodded his head up and down. "Ladies' first."

"You asked for it."

With a shriek of rage, Raven leaped into the air straight towards Adonis, using the back edge of the makeshift bed as a means of propulsion. Adonis was caught off guard, having expected for Raven to try to weakly run towards him rather than jump at him, and the sorceress managed to crash into him and tackle him to the ground.

Upon successfully tackling Adonis, Raven managed to squeeze in a small series of relatively weak, yet still painful, punches to the boy's face before Adonis managed to smack her in the face with a backhanded strike from his left hand. This blow caused Raven to rear upward and back and leave herself open just long enough for him to maneuver his right leg into an appropriate position before he then kicked her in the stomach and sent her flying back off of him.

Raven landed on her back and bounced across the cave floor three times before skidding to a halt on her belly. Raven had just enough time to briefly groan in pain before she heard running feet and an angry yell coming towards her from behind. She turned her head in time to see another then Adonis charging towards her. Thinking quickly, she braced herself as if wincing resignedly to Adonis successfully tackling her, and then sweeping her legs at the last minute, tripping up Adonis and sending him flying right over her before crash landing hard himself flat on his face a good yard or two in front of her.

Adonis weakly got back onto his feet, and then rushed towards Raven from the opposite direction, another angry yell bursting from his lips. Raven managed to weakly somersault out of the way to her left just in time for Adonis to end up righting directly across the area she'd been laying around at. Before the boy even fully realized that he'd effectively run right past his target, he felt something small, yet heavy, smack into his back, and he fell back down to the ground with a thud. Mere seconds after Adonis landed, he heard something heavy bounce on the ground ahead of him, and he lifted his head in time to see a bowling ball-sized stone bounce across the ground directly in front of him. His eyes narrowed. Even he was smart enough to put two and two together and realize that this stone was clearly what had just recently hit him in the back, not to mention who was obviously responsible. "In the back!?" he growled. "You can do better than that!"

"Yes I can."

Adonis's eyes widened, and he turned his head just in time to see Raven running straight towards him. Mentally swearing, he hurriedly swung himself around in a way that allowed him to sweep Raven's legs out from under her with his own. Raven shrieked in surprise as she went flying over Adonis, who managed to react swiftly enough to get back on his feet just in time to grab her by the ankle and swing her around before then sending her flying back towards the makeshift bed.

Raven landed on her back at around the halfway point between Adonis's current position and the makeshift bed. She was yanked back down to Earth before she could even register any potential pain from her landing when she heard Adonis yell. She lifted up her head just in time to see that Adonis was now lunging through the air straight towards her. Thinking quickly, she hurriedly did a backflip, her feet catching Adonis by the chest in midair and propelling him forward and directly over her towards the makeshift bed.

Adonis, sadly, was just as quick to react, and he was able to turn his otherwise painful head-on impact with the 'bed' into a roll that allowed him to safely get back onto his feet right at the edge facing the back wall of the cave.

At the sound of an angry scream coming towards him from behind, Adonis turned his head in time to see Raven attempting another rush towards him. He jumped off the bed, yanked one of the stones supporting that particular tip of it, and threw it at the sorceress. Raven's eyes widened, and she hurriedly, dove down onto her belly in time for the stone to harmlessly fly over her and shatter on the ground a good few feet behind her.

Unfortunately, Adonis had been planning for Raven to dodge the projectile in this manner. In fact, by the time Raven managed to lift herself up into a position where she'd be able to do a pushup that would hopefully allow her to get back on her feet, Adonis had already managed to position himself directly in front of her face through a series of front flips, and Raven had just enough time to lift her head and abruptly notice Adonis suddenly standing there when he kicked her in the face.

Raven grunted in pain as she went rolling backwards from the impact. She came to a stop in a backwards leaning position on her backside, and she shook her head to lessen the effect of the impact when she heard Adonis rushing towards her again. Thinking quickly, she used her hands, which were conveniently already resting against the ground behind her, to propel herself into a position that allowed her to successfully kick Adonis in the neck with both feet and send him quite comically bouncing backwards on one foot before then taking newfound advantage of the remaining momentum of her attack to backflip herself back onto her feet, albeit with a brief moment of unsteady wobbling.

Adonis ended up completely losing his footing and crash landing hard on his back. He managed to painfully get back onto his feet, snarl lividly at Raven, and then rush towards her again, drawing his right arm back as if about to try to punch her in the face with it. Raven leaned back, tensing herself up for her intended counter attack. Right as Adonis swung his fist, Raven grabbed onto his wrist just as the boy was seconds away from successfully punching her, successfully redirecting it so as to send the boy stumbling to the side off balance. Unfortunately, this same success also caused her to briefly stumble and spin in circles in the direction opposite the one she sent Adonis stumbling off to. Fortunately, she managed to extend her arms forward in time to steady herself by pressing her hands against a nearby cave wall while Adonis flat out slammed face-first into the wall opposite the one she was now touching.

A moment later, right as Adonis got himself onto his hands and knees, Raven propelled herself off her respective cave wall to send herself running towards the downed boy with her right fist at the ready. Adonis heard her coming, took a deep breath while tensing himself up, and then struck in spectacular fashion with a well-timed back flip that allowed his left foot to smack Raven in the face just as she was about to reach his position and strike him. Raven was sent stumbling backwards, eventually causing herself to turn a full 180 and stumble a few more steps away from Adonis. Then she felt someone grab onto her cape and yank her into the air. The sorceress had just enough time to shriek from both shock and the sudden lack of air before Adonis then spun her around him in circles and sent her flying in the direction of the makeshift bed once more. She landed once painfully on her back, bounced backwards from that landing before coming to another painful one on her stomach, and then bounced again before coming to a final painful landing on her back, and on the collapsed remains of the makeshift stone bed.

At this point, Raven now felt too much pain to even try to get back up, and she groaned in agony with her eyes closed and teeth gritted. Then she felt someone grasp onto both her wrists from above, and her eyes snapped open with an equally surprised gasp bursting out of her mouth at the sight of Adonis leaning over her with his hands grasping her by the wrists.

Adonis panted and gasped in a mixture of exhaustion and triumph. Then he smirked in a mixture of smug triumph and grudging respect. "You put up a good fight," said the apparently triumphant Adonis. "I'll give you that." He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "But now it's high time I stopped messing around." He opened his eyes, now very clearly showing that he was in serious mode. "Like you made clear not too long ago, I've wasted too much time already." He nodded his head. "And now, I'm gonna have my fun. And the best part? I'll go easy on you." He directed his full attention towards her face once again. "I'm gonna get it over with." A wolf-like grin came onto his face. "Just like you wanted."

. . . . .

Outside the cave, at around the same moment in which Raven and Adonis's fight within said cave had begun, Beast Boy the lion was now over ¾ of the way to reaching the end of the trail Adonis had left, and he couldn't help but feel a warm fire of triumph blazing inside him. "Almost there," he mentally snarled to himself. He narrowed his eyes in a mixture of focus and confidence. "I'm gonna make it." Then he had another thought, and his mental smile widened. "I'm gonna save you Rae," he thought to himself. "And I'm gonna do it in style."

The green lion narrowed its eyes, now clearly focusing on something. "Alright buddy," he mentally growled. "I know you're in there. You ready?"

"Come now," responded the now very familiar indeed voice of the Beast. "You know me better than that." A brief pause ensued, and Beast Boy could clearly see in his mind a vision of the Beast nodding its head up and down with its eyes closed. "When it comes to the mate," the Beast continued, "I'm _always_ ready."

"Good," Beast Boy mentally replied to the Beast. "Because it's time for you to come out again. We've got a friend to save."

"With pleasure," the Beast growled.

Beast Boy lunged to a stop, threw Raven's all-important communicator into the air with a swing of his head, and then jumped up in an almost back-flip like fashion before transforming into the Beast in mid-air. The instant the transformation was complete, the Beast crash landed to the ground on both feet in a crouching position, snarled, and then straightened up and extended its right hand upwards just in time to catch onto the communicator when it fell right into the grasp of that very hand. The Beast gently clenched its hand around the communicator, leaned forward, and roared savagely in challenge before it then started rocketing forward as it proceeded to rapidly start dashing down the remaining portion of the trail to be followed. And as it furiously charged its way down the remainder of the trail, snarling, growling, and roaring in rage and triumph, it was so focused on its upcoming mission that it never noticed the figure hidden amongst the trees that managed to get incidentally alerted to its presence and see it running right past her.

This same hidden figure, however, thankfully knew better than to make her presence known to the creature. And much like this figure, the dark cloaked figure who'd managed to also catch sight of the Beast through means of the cameras in the eye holes of the figure's mask that he was remotely viewing the footage being recorded, now had considerably more important things to do now that his underling had managed to allow him to become aware of this new unpleasant development that had just now gotten added to an already large list formed only that night.

. . . . .

Adonis took a deep breath, preparing himself to finally get started on what he now very bitterly wished he'd had the sense to do considerably much earlier than now. Raven closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and likewise tensed herself up in dread of what was now very likely soon to come. But then, just as Adonis was preparing himself to initiate the steps needed to fully initiate his planned 'fun', an electronic beeping that sounded almost like some sort of alarm started blaring from somewhere in the boy's pants pocket. For about a minute, Adonis grimaced, his eyes clenched shut and his teeth gritted as he tried his best to ignore the piercing noise. Then, finding out that he couldn't take it anymore, he angrily drew the source of the noise, which turned out to be his cellphone, out of his pocket and accept what turned out to be what must have been a very urgent call. "Sorry boss," said Adonis in a deceptively calm tone of voice. "But I'm a little busy right now."

"Forget that," snarled a voice from the other end of the connection. "Whatever it is you're currently doing, stop it now! You need to get out of there! The green one is heading your way, and will be arriving at your location within the next few minutes!"

"Ha, ha, very funny," said Adonis. "Honestly, you expect me to believe that? If that clumsy little green wimp were anywhere near this part of the forest, I'd have gotten some advance notice of it hours ago. Now please, no interruptions."

"DO I SOUND LIKE I'M JOKING?!" roared the voice on the other end. "You know perfectly well that I specifically said that I'd only call you with this number in the event of an absolute emergency! Now stop what you're doing and evacuate the area!"

"And I'm telling you," Adonis responded. "That there's no need to worry. I've got everything under control, and I'll be on my way at around the end of the current hour."

"CAN YOU NOT HEAR ME?!" the voice shouted, practically erupting in flames with rage. "ABORT THE MISSION! EVACUATE NOW WHILE YOU STILL CAN! BEFORE THE GREEN ONE ARRIVES!"

Adonis lowered the phone away from his ear and placed his other hand over the screen. "Sorry," the boy said, clearly giving a sarcastic blatant lie. "Having trouble hearing you; I'll call you back later."

"I MEAN IT!" roared the mysterious voice on the other end of the line. "ABORT NOW AND EVACUATE . . .!"

Adonis selected the 'end call' option, effectively hanging up. "Sorry about the interruption my dear," Adonis then said as he gently placed his phone back into his pocket. "Honestly, my future boss has demonstrated a much better sense of timing throughout all the time I've known him before now."

Raven narrowed her eyes. "I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss his claims right now if I were you," she responded dryly.

Adonis chuckled. "Please, don't make me laugh." He looked directly back at her face once more. "I mean come on, you know just as well as I do that there's no way that wimpy green oaf could possibly be anywhere within 50 miles of this place without me being aware of it somehow." He pretended to think to himself. "Hmm, now where was I? Oh." He grinned smugly, and started leaning back towards Raven once more with his hands at the ready to resume what he'd been about to do before the interruption had occurred. "I do believe I was about to. . ."

He suddenly tensed up, arching his back, clenching his eyes shut, and gritting his teeth in a snarl of pain and annoyance. "Ah!" he screamed. Then he started violently jerking and thrashing and writhing around, screaming and howling in what seemed to be pain. "Ow!" he shrieked. "What are you . . . ah! Quit it! Ow! Stop that! Ah!" Without warning, he tumbled backwards right off of Raven and landed on the ground behind him on his back, still thrashing and writhing in an almost seizure-like fit of pain. "No! Stop it . . . ah! I mean it! Ow! Don't be stupid . . . ah! That's impossible . . . ow! I mean it . . . ah! No really . . . I've got this covered . . . ow! I mean it . . . ah! I'm serious! He's nowhere near here. . . ow! Oh for crying out loud; FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE WOULD YOU JUST . . . AH!"

Without warning, he slapped his hands over his ears and starting thrashing, writhing, and rolling around even more violently then before; howling, snarling, growling, roaring, and screaming in agony. Raven, having at this point managed to get herself positioned so that she was now sitting upright on her backside, yet slightly leaning backwards nonetheless. And as she watched in stunned shock, Adonis eventually managed to come a tense stop in a position that had him lying on his left side with his back arched and the front of his body facing her direction. "No," he groaned in pain. "Please . . . stop . . . ah!"

At the exact same moment Adonis unleashed that latest shriek of pain, his teeth abruptly extended into fangs. Raven was briefly startled, but she very quickly regained her composure. Good thing to, because the appearance of the fangs was the only the beginning. Several more rapid changes in appearance followed in swift succession. The first such change following the fangs was revealed when his eyes suddenly snapped open and revealed two cat-like yellow eyes in the place of his usual smug dark eyes. Then his back suddenly did a reverse arch, and his feet expanded into the shape of what looked like a mixture of the paws of a wolf, a bear, and a cat, complete with claws in the place of toenails. Then Adonis snapped into a position in which he was lying right on his belly, his hands snapping away from his ears and onto the ground in front of him just in time for them to expand into a more hand-like version of the same paws that had just now been formed from his feet, complete with his fingernails likewise extending into claws.

No sooner had the claws and paws taken shape when Adonis abruptly snapped into another position in which he was on his hands and knees, had his back slightly arched, and he was likewise very strongly tensed up. For a brief few seconds more, he snarled, growled, and whimpered in pain and despair, his eyes closed and teeth gritted once more. Then, with a final despairing "NO!" the boy rapidly expanded in size with coarse brown fur sprouting across his body until he then stopped expanding in time to almost explosively snap into an upright standing bipedal position with his arms and hands raised in the air, roaring in challenge; all in the familiar form of his own personal inner Beast.

The brown furred Beast stood before Raven for a tense moment, snarling and slavering in rage, clearly fighting against its savagely strong urge to kill her. Then another Beastly roar split the air from outside the cave. The brown Beast tensed up, closed its eyes, and gritted its teeth, now clearly struggling to decide which desire to place higher priority on. Then the other Beast's roar split the air again, and the one standing before Raven made its decision. It opened its eyes and glared at Raven. "I'll kill you later," it growled. It turned around so that its back was facing Raven and the rest of it was facing the exit to the cave. "Right now," it continued, "my rival takes precedence." With a roar of its own, the brown Beast charged out of the cave, snarling and slavering as it mentally prepared itself for the upcoming battle against its hated rival Beast.

Meanwhile, Raven panted in relief and exhaustion, and a small face came on her face. For she'd had the chance to access her empathic radar once more, and Beast Boy's distinctive beacon of emotional feedback was indeed now considerably stronger in a way that could only indicate that the changeling was indeed getting increasingly close to her location. "Thank you Beast Boy," she whispered to herself, genuinely glad to know that he was within the area. "I knew you would make it." And indeed, now that she thought about it, she truly had known that Beast Boy would arrive in time to save her, long before even she herself had realized it.

 **And just like that, another chapter done! And boy am I hoping you enjoyed this one! Granted, the long awaited clash you're all waiting for hasn't begun yet. But fear not! It won't be much longer now before the wait finally ends (chapter-wise anyway). And that being said, once again I hope to receive a respectable amount of feedback. Remember, I require a minimum of 1 review for this chapter in order to post the next chapter once it's complete. And that being said, feel free to comment with as detailed or simple a review as you want (but absolutely NO flames under ANY circumstances!).**

 **And now, for a response to a guest: I am very glad indeed that you are enjoying and 'idolizing' my work so much EchoInTheDark! And fear not, I'll definitely be continuing the good work! But right now I'd best explain a little something to you. Just so you know, am well aware of how childish and dumb Beast Boy behaves. However, as the green bean himself made clear in 'Detention/Mad Mod', he has a brain; he just doesn't use it much. The way I see it, and have made a note of in both writing and dialogue in my stories so far, I believe that either A: as long as it's something he'd find particularly interesting (and I'm quite certain this obviously means that machinery and tech-based topics are not among the topics that would fit this category) or B: at any moment that he stops fooling around, he is actually capable of being plenty smart and capable. Again, this is just my interpretation and not at all a dig against you. I'm still very glad indeed that you are such a big fan of my work and hope you continue to remain as such :).**

 **Coming up Next: The one! The only! The Battle of the Beasts!**


	16. Beast to the Rescue

**Hope you're ready for more Teen Titan-ic awesomeness people, cuz here's a new chapter! In this exciting new addition to 'Shadows of Love', the long awaited clash of Beast vs. Beast finally unfolds. Sound exciting? I certainly hope so! And here's to also hoping that you read, review, and enjoy! ^_^**

 **A/N: Just to remind you all, I do not own Teen Titans, or anything else DC based or similarly owned by a higher legal power that may or may not be mentioned in this chapter (or story, period). And now, the moment you've all been waiting for! Let the Battle of the Beasts BEGIN!**

 **Chapter 15:**

 **Beast to the Rescue**

The green Beast charged forward, now on the final stretch of trail that remained before he burst through the foliage that he knew would give way to reveal the location of where his rival had taken Raven. At this point, the Beast was so tensed up in anticipation of the coming battle that it took all its willpower to prevent itself from accidentally crushing the communicator it still held in its right hand.

"Now or never," the Beast thought to itself, it's host mentally thinking the same thing in unison from his position in the mental backseat. This was it; the battle was imminent; their rival was going to rue this night.

At the exact same moment, the brown Beast had fully exited the cave where its own host had chosen to slink away to have his 'fun' with the hated sorceress and was now standing tall just outside the entrance, snarling and growling in rage as it waited for its even more hated rival to arrive. Its eyes narrowed, and it turned its head left and right. "Where are you?" it mentally growled. It looked to its left once more, now emitting a low snarl of rage. "I know you're out there," it thought to itself. "Show yourself you coward!"

At the sound of surprisingly loud rustling and growling coming from right in front of it, the brown Beast looked directly ahead of it once again just in time to see none other than its distinctive green nemesis burst through the foliage two or three yards ahead of it with a loud growl of rage bursting from its open mouth. The green Beast came to a perfect landing on both of its feet, crouching masterfully to allow it to absorb the impact. Then it straightened up, reared its head back, and then snapped itself into a leaning forward position allowing it to stare its rival in the face before unleashing an ear splitting roar of fury and challenge. The brown Beast roared back simultaneously rearing up to dispel even the slightest possibility of looking weak.

At the same time this was happening, Raven managed to weakly come to a stop several feet away from the entrance to the cave, having managed to get herself off the remains of the makeshift stone bed (only pausing to weakly scoop up the discarded larger syringe into her arms and carry it over with her), and her eyes widened involuntarily as she caught sight of the two Beasts now present and sizing each other up.

The green Beast took three steps forward, and then stopped. The brown Beast reared up again, letting out another, but this time deeper sounding, roar of challenge. As Raven continued to watch from her current position behind the brown Beast, the Beasts stared each other down, snarling and slavering in rage and anticipation for when the battle finally begun. The green Beast leaned forward again, unleashing a raspy snarl at the brown Beast, who simultaneously leaned forward towards its nemesis and unleashed a throaty howl from its own jaws.

Seconds later, as Raven found herself forced to lower down to her knees and one hand from the effort it had taken to get to her current position, the two Beasts finally decided that their standoff had lasted long enough, and they both charged towards each other in unison, the green Beast letting out another savage roar of challenge. Then the two Beasts collided, literally head-on, and with a fit of snarling and a single clash of claws, the epic battle began.

. . . . .

"How much further do we have to go?"

"Shouldn't be that much further," Cyborg responded, his eyes firmly glued to the screen on his arm that was even now actively at work in tracking Raven's active communicator. "In fact, judging by the current readings, she appears to have finally come to a stop."

At the current moment, the three founding Titans who'd originally stayed behind at the tower were flying through the air. Or to be more precise, Starfire was flying through the air while carrying Robin in one hand and Cyborg in the other. In spite of having left at exactly the moment they'd caught the distress signal, it had taken nearly ¾ of an hour to reach their current position above the forest. But fortunately, with Cyborg having now mentioned that Raven had stopped moving around, they would hopefully not take too much longer to reach their friend's position.

"I most certainly hope we arrive at Raven's location soon," said Starfire. "I dare not even think about what sort of trouble she might be undergoing right now, especially considering how long it's currently taking us to get to her." She then blinked, and just barely managed to fight her sudden overwhelming urge to yawn. "Forgive me friends," said the Tamaranean. "But I fear that my earlier exhaustion is beginning to return. I may very well soon have to land and be of little use in the coming circumstances."

"Just see if you can go just a little further," Robin suggested patiently. "If it reaches the point that you're virtually seconds away from outright dropping out of the sky, then you can definitely go ahead and land regardless of how far we are from Raven. But for now, just try to stay afloat."

"For Raven's sake," said Starfire, "I shall try my best." With a grunt of exertion, she zoomed ahead some more, still maintaining a tight grip on Robin and Cyborg's hands.

The sky was abruptly split with the sound of a savagely animalistic roaring. At the sound of this, Robin's masked eyes widened. He knew that sound all too well. "The Beast; he's still active." His eyes narrowed, and he gritted his teeth in a silent snarl. "If that thing is the one responsible for the distress signal, then so help me, I will . . ."

Another roar split the air, this one sounding noticeably different from the first one. The eyes of all three of the airborne Titans widened in shock. Granted, it wasn't so much the fact that it sounded different from the first roar that had now stunned them. Rather, it was the fact that it had now occurred while the first roar was still in effect. "There's two of them," said Starfire.

"Adonis," Robin growled. He clenched his right fist, which was conveniently not the one that was currently grasping onto Starfire's own right hand. "That sick son of a gun; his Beast must have managed to avoid being completely annihilated by that cure three years ago just like Beast Boy's."

"Then good thing we brought that little backup measure along," said Cyborg. He looked over at Robin. "You do have it right?"

"Yes I do," said Robin, patting on a compartment in his utility belt.

Starfire raised her eyebrow. "Is there something I am missing?"

"Not anymore."

Robin drew out what looked like some sort of syringe. Contained inside was a hideous looking dark brownish green liquid. Cyborg, meanwhile, briefly deactivated his communicator tracker and caused what looked like a small gun-like object to extend out of his arm. "This little formula," Robin began, "is a minor counter measure Cyborg and I designed for situations like these . . ."

Starfire's grip tightened to an agonizingly tight level, her eyes now glowing dangerously solid green. "How dare you do this!?" shouted the Tamaranean. "You Cyborg of all people should have known better than this! Especially after how vocally you and Raven stood against acts like this three years ago during the Beast Buster plans incident!"

"Star," said Cyborg. "This isn't what you think . . ."

"And you!" Starfire roared, but this time at Robin. "How dare you make yet another heinous plan such as this?! I thought you'd changed after all this time . . ."

"Star," said Robin. "Please. This time's different."

"HOW!?" Starfire screamed.

"Because unlike the Beast Busters," Cyborg explained, "this contingency was designed with Beast Boy's willing and fully aware consent."

For a brief moment, Starfire raised her eyebrow and stayed silent, completely confused. Then the full import of what Cyborg had just said hit her. "He was aware and in consent to this?"

"Yes," said Robin. He nodded his head.

"But why would he agree to such a plan?" the Tamaranean asked, her eyes no longer glowing, but still looking somewhat angry. "Especially after the incident with the Beast Buster plans?"

"I shall gladly explain," said Robin. He cleared his throat, and in a seemingly quite unusually casual manner considering he was dangling from quite a few feet up in the air. "You see here's what really makes this little countermeasure different from the Beast Busters. The Beast Busters were designed in a way that would both force the Beast into hibernation and also overwhelm Beast Boy himself to the point of taking him out as well." He lifted up the syringe he was holding once more. "This, on the other hand," the Boy Wonder continued, "is designed exclusively for dealing with the Beast."

"Exactly," said Cyborg. Starfire turned her head to face him. "This little concoction? An inhibitol mixture, designed specifically to force the Beast into giving control back to its host and to go into a state of hibernation so potent as to leave the host unable to change into it, or even communicate with it, until the effects wear off."

"And once exposed to the mixture and the Beast has been thus subdued," Robin continued, "the host is left conscious and unharmed."

Starfire thought to herself, and then a small smile came on her face. Her boyfriend truly had learned his lesson from the Beast Buster plans incident. "So in other words," said the Tamaranean, "it's designed strictly in the event of the Beast becoming the rogue, not necessarily under the assumption that friend Beast Boy himself goes rogue as well."

"Exactly," said Cyborg. He pointed over in the direction that the roaring had come from. "And as we just heard not too long ago, it will also prove very useful indeed now that we're aware that the Beast in Adonis is now on the lose."

Starfire thought to herself again, and a small smirk came on her face as she realized just how very useful this contingency plan would turn out to be indeed against a target other than Beast Boy. "I see," said the Tamaranean.

"That's good," said Robin. He smirked, and slipped the syringe back into its compartment within his utility belt. "Think you can make it?"

"With pleasure," said Starfire. With a deep breath, and a yell of self-encouragement, the Tamaranean zoomed through the air once more with her two friends still hanging on for dear life.

. . . . .

For what seemed like an eternity to both the combatants and the current sole onlooker, the two hulking Beasts furiously battled. The green Beast roared, and swung his right hand at its enemy, claws at the ready. The brown Beast blocked with a swing of the claws on its own right hand, sparks flying from the contact between the claws. The Beasts growled and withdrew their claws. The brown Beast lunged its head forward, snapping its jaws around the green Beast's right shoulder. The green Beast roared, a mixture of pain and anger in its voice, and pounded its brown furred rival in the side of the head with its left fist. Mere seconds after the brown Beast's teeth withdrew from their grip on the green Beast's shoulder, the green Beast grabbed its enemy by the shoulders and dealt it a powerful blow to the stomach with its right knee. The green Beast followed up with a powerful flying ninja kick to the face that sent the brown Beast stumbling backwards.

The brown Beast managed to eventually regain its footing when it was inches away from collapsing into the entrance of the cave behind it, shook its head side to side, and roared at its rival. The green Beast had already closed the distance with a charging rush, and it grabbed its rival by the ears, lifted it up, and slammed it down on the ground opposite the cave. The brown Beast snarled, swung its rival's legs out from under it with a swing of its own leg, and grabbed the green Beast by the ankles before it could land, swung it around, and sent it flying to a crashing pounding halt against a nearby tree, uprooting it.

The green Beast got back on its feet, shook its head side to side, and snarled before lunging back towards the brown Beast. Its rival had been seconds away from reaching the cave entrance and had gotten its claws positioned to deal a killing blow on the horrified onlooking Raven when the green Beast pounded into it from the side and sent them both tumbling over each other to the side. The two Beasts pounded into a nearby boulder, splitting apart from each other upon impact. They got back up on their feet, turned to face each other, and roared angrily in challenge. The brown Beast, in its rage, chose to attack first, and it barreled straight towards the green Beast, who grabbed onto its rival's right fist just as it was on the verge of slamming into its own face and manipulated it into sending the brown Beast off balance. The green Beast wasted no time upon getting the brown Beast off balance, and sent it flying backwards straight into a tree with a strong uppercut punch to the face. Much like when the green Beast had undergone a similar experience, the tree that the brown Beast crashed into ended up uprooting from the force of the impact and slamming down upon the ground.

The brown Beast got itself up into a seated position, shook his head, and then snapped its head to face the direction of its rival at the sound of an angry snarling. At the sight of the green Beast barreling towards it, claws at the ready, jaws agape, and roaring furiously, the brown Beast tensed up, snarled, and did a backflip attack that smacked the green Beast in the lower jaw and sent it stumbling backwards. The successful attack also allowed the brown Beast to get back to its feet, and while its rival was still off balance, the brown Beast grabbed onto the downed tree it had crashed into, picked it up, and swung it at the green Beast. The brown Beast's makeshift weapon slammed into the green Beast from its right, and the green Beast was sent flying off to the side. It landed hard on the ground and bounced three times in the direction it had initially been sent flying before skidding to a painful halt right in front of the downed tree that it had been sent crashing into itself not too long ago.

The brown Beast charged towards its apparently downed green rival, its makeshift weapon still in its hands, roaring in rage and triumph. Upon reaching a sufficient distance, it lifted the tree it was holding upwards and then swung it downwards towards the green Beast, only to then be knocked off balance and find the tree hanging completely vertically skyward upon being struck upwards by a swing of the other downed tree, now in the hands of the green Beast. The brown Beast managed to regain its footing, reposition its tree so that it was less precariously positioned, and roar in rage before it was then forced to defend itself as both it and the green Beast proceeded to furiously swing each other's trees at each other in a style very reminiscent of a sword fight.

For a respectable amount of time, the Beasts continued swinging their tree weapons at each other, snarling and growling in rage, challenge, and bloodlust. Then the brown Beast, in its rage, made a big mistake. It drew its tree extremely far back, and then put too much of its own weight into the motion when it started to swing it back at the green Beast. This proved to be such a big mistake when the green Beast swung its own tree in a far swifter fashion, and its weapon collided lightly against the brown Beast's weapon just hard enough to send the tree flying out of its rival's hands and even out of the clearing to boot. The brown Beast had just enough time to gape in shock at the sight of its weapon rapidly hurtling skyward, and then turn its head back towards the green Beast before the green Beast's tree pounded into it and sent it rocketing backward.

No sooner had the brown Beast finally landed when the green Beast charged towards it, roaring in challenge and with its tree weapon at the ready to be swung at him. Unfortunately, the brown Beast managed to jump back onto its feet, grab the top of the tree right as its rival was about to smack him with it, and then proceed to lift up the tree and slam it back down hard enough to both shatter it into smithereens and send its green rival bouncing away. The green Beast managed to do a half sit up in time to see the brown Beast hurtling through the air towards him with its claws and teeth at the ready. Thinking quickly, the green Beast did a backflip, its feet catching its brown rival on the chest and propelling it forwards and over it, sending the brown monster crashing head-first into another tree.

Both Beasts got up onto their feet, snarled at each other, and then rushed over towards each other. They collided literally head on, shook their heads side to side, roared at each other, and then proceeded to engage in a rapid, yet nonetheless brutal, fist fight, punching each other in the face, chest, stomach, and just about everywhere else their fists could successfully connect with each other for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, with an especially angry sounding roar, the green Beast managed to strike the brown Beast in the stomach with an especially powerful punch, deliver another knee strike to the same area, and then bite its rival hard on its left shoulder before then proceeding to cause them both to tumble over each other yet again. And then, right as the two battling Beast were on the verge of colliding into a large boulder together, the green Beast managed to snap itself into being upright on its two feet, lift up the brown Beast, and slam it down hard onto the boulder with just enough strength to shatter the boulder.

The brown Beast winced, gritting its teeth from the pain of the impact. Before it could recover, the green Beast leaped into the air, both of its feet coming to an equally painful landing upon the brown Beast's stomach. The brow Beast gasped and snarled in pain and shock at the impact. The green Beast growled, and proceeded to jump up and down multiple times upon the brown Beast's stomach. And for what seemed like hours, the green Beast jumped up and down upon its rival, the brown Beast's arms being jolted into bouncing up and down on the ground in perfect synch with the green Beast's jumps and landings. Then, with one final emphatic jump and landing, the brown Beast seemingly passed out and went limp.

For a brief few seconds, the green Beast remained standing atop the brown Beast. Then it snarled, turned to face the direction of the cave, and saw that Raven was now standing just outside the entrance, a small smile on her face, and her hand moving in a way that clearly hinted that she was beckoning for him to come. The Beast stepped off of its prone rival and started slowly walking towards the cave, and thus towards Raven. As the green Beast departed from its rival's prone body and made its way towards the teenage sorceress, the brown Beast shrank in on itself, reverting back to the now very beaten up familiar scraggly and gangly form of Donald Anderson aka. Adonis.

As Raven stood just outside the entrance to the cave, she let a small smile continue to remain on her face as the green Beast slowly made its way towards her in response to her beckoning. The creature came to a stop a good couple inches in front of her, heaving and sighing in a mixture of exhaustion and calm relief. Raven took a deep breath, sighed in content, and looked the Beast in the eyes, simultaneously placing the syringe down at her feet as slowly and carefully as she could as a sign of good faith. "Thank you," she then said. The Beast rumbled, its tone suggesting that this was more of a calm and happy noise meant as a means of saying 'you're welcome' than a threatening growl. Raven shook her head side to side, small smile still on her face. "It's alright now," said Raven, her right hand slowly starting to extend out towards the Beast's face. "You've done what you needed to do. Everything will be fine."

. . . . .

Meanwhile, standing right by the area where the Beast had made its grand entrance into that very clearing were Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg. All three of them couldn't help but let small smiles of relief and triumph come on their faces at the sight of what they'd arrived in time to watch unfold. Starfire had continued to fly the two boys all the way up until they reached a point where Cyborg had calculated that they were about a quarter of the remaining distance away from where the communicator's location, and thus would be less likely to either alert Adonis to their presence or accidentally distract Beast Boy with the sight of them at a critical moment in his battle. After landing, they'd rushed down what had turned out to be a very obvious trail and come to a stop right outside the clearing where the battle had been occurring, at which point Robin had found Raven's still active communicator lying right nearby the area that the Beast had busted through to enter said clearing. In fact, the Beast had deliberately dropped the communicator in that very area directly before he'd made his entrance into the clearing and formally challenged his rival to the climactic battle that had unfolded.

From that point, Robin had paused just long enough to swipe up the communicator before he, Starfire, and Cyborg then proceeded to enter the clearing. They had entered just in time to catch sight of the green Beast doing its final series of jumping up and down upon the brown Beast. Robin had wisely signaled for his companions to stay back, for he had a feeling that things would likely be perfectly under control. And sure enough, as the current events they were now watching appeared to indicate, things indeed did appear to be quite under control. Adonis had been defeated and had reverted back to human form without having needed to be injected with the contingency formula. Beast Boy's own Beast form, meanwhile, seemed to be perfectly calm and was now in the midst of being reassured and soothed back into reverting control back to its host by Raven. Robin's smile widened. "Yep," he thought to himself. "I daresay things are actually working out quite well right now." Starfire and Cyborg, likewise, had similar thoughts.

"It's all over," Raven continued. "I'm safe now. I'll be fine. You can go back home."

The Beast rumbled, its tone indicating 'you're absolutely sure?'

"Yes," said Raven, her hand still calmly extending out towards the Beast. She carefully and gently managed to place her hand on the Beast's face. The Beast rumbled, almost purring, at the contact. "It's alright," said Raven. "There's nothing to worry about anymore. The danger I was in is over. You've done what you came to do, and I'm safe now because of it." She leaned her head towards the Beast, small smile still on her face and her violet eyes almost literally glowing with genuine happiness and gratitude. "Trust me," she stated. "Your work is done. You can go home now. You can rest. And believe me, I know you really could use some rest right now." The Beast let out its rumbling purring noise again, its eyes closing, and making a slight movement against Raven's hand as if trying to nod in agreement.

"That's right," said Raven. "Take deep breaths, find your center, calm yourself down. You've done your job, and you've succeeded. It's time for you to go back to sleep, and let your host come back." As this happened, Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg looked at each other happily in unison. At this rate, things didn't look as if they could possibly go wrong.

Unfortunately, while in the midst of being carried away in the atmosphere that had now come to unfold around them at the sight of all the positive events that had been going on at that moment, the Titans completely forgot to keep an eye on Adonis. And at that moment, the scrawny miscreant had managed to get back up on his hands and knees, and was silently snarling in rage at the sight of what was now going on between Beast Boy and Raven. "No fair, no fair, no FAIR," he angrily growled to himself. He then raised his eyebrow upon catching sight of none other than his discarded belt, which now appeared to be conveniently lying around right there in front of him. His eyes narrowed as he promptly thought up a plan. This plan became further developed when he caught sight of a particularly sharp and jagged looking piece of the boulder that he'd been smashed upon while in Beast mode. With a snarl of rage, he grabbed onto the makeshift projectile and threw it straight towards the green Beast's exposed back.

Fortunately, the sound of the miscreant's angry snarling attracted the attention of the three Titans standing by the entrance to the clearing, and they reacted accordingly. "Look out!" Cyborg yelled in Raven and Beast Boy's direction. The sudden shouting jolted Raven out of her concentration, and alerted the Beast, who tensely reared up in alarm, snarling viciously for good measure.

At the same time all this was going on, Robin hurriedly threw one of his birdarangs in the direction of the path of Adonis's projectile. The birdarangs crashed into the jagged piece of stone in midair and both projectiles fell harmlessly to the ground. The sound of the clash, however, also served the purpose of attracting the Beasts attention, and it snapped its head around to look behind it, only to promptly roar in rage at the sight of Adonis hurriedly working to snap his belt back across his waist and press the button that would trigger his armor.

All of 3 seconds passed Adonis successfully pressing the button while simultaneously clipping his belt into place before the Beast suddenly appeared right in front of him, grabbed onto the belt by the area where the all-important button was located, and yanked the belt back off of him. The Beast tightly gripped onto the belt it now held tight within its right hand, the smashed up central component sparking and buzzing as it was very damagingly halted in the process of releasing the armor contained within it right as the compartments had only just started to open up. The Beast growled, and then rapidly threw the belt away towards the area behind it without even turning its head. The belt landed hard on the ground several yards behind the Beast and exploded, sending all the assorted pieces and components of the now irreparably damaged armor scattering around and landing in assorted locations surrounding the crash site.

Adonis gulped. For just the briefest of moments, he completely lost his senses as a result of realizing the sheer awesomeness factor in what the Beast had just now managed to do. Then his senses managed to snap back to him, and with a second, but this time fearful, gulp, he looked up, and promptly winced in both fear and self-irritation upon of the snarling face of the Beast staring straight down at him. "I'm in trouble," he thought to himself. The Beast roared, drew its left arm back, and then thrusted it forward without warning, its dangerously sharp claws jabbing straight into the now permanently unarmored miscreant's stomach, the tips bursting straight out of the boy's back for good measure.

Raven's eyes widened in shock and horror. The other three Titans were likewise stunned by what the Beast had just done. Adonis's own eyes also widened in shock for the briefest of moments. Then the full import of the blow came to him, and his face tensed up in pain, and he gulped rapidly as if fighting not to vomit. The Beast growled in a mixture of rage and triumph, and yanked its left hand claws free from the stomach of its rival's host. Adonis promptly collapsed to the ground on his back with a thud, coughing and retching from the pain as blood started to rapidly ooze out of the dangerously severe wound in his stomach. The Beast roared at the downed and wounded miscreant in fury and victory.

After a tense few seconds, Robin finally managed to regain his voice. "What have you done?" he asked out loud.

The Beast snarled, narrowed its eyes, and turned its head to face the Boy Wonder, its eyes narrowed in an expression of calm resignation. "What I should have done three years ago when I first met that filthy rat."

"Friend," said Starfire. "Do you not realize what you have done? He could die!"

"And good riddance to him to," the Beast growled.

"Are you insane?" Cyborg yelled. "We don't kill!"

"My host may be bound by that senseless rule," the Beast snarled. "But I am not. The only reason I've ever allowed myself to abide by it is my host's wishes. But this time, that vermin has gone far enough. Even if my host had had the chance to try to stop me, I would have done it anyway, and I'm not sorry for it at all."

The Beast growled again, then took a deep breath, exhaled, and nodded its head up and down. "I am sorry, however," said the Beast, "for the damage I caused to your lair." It looked back up, its eyes open once more. "And I also apologize for allowing myself to be blinded alongside my host into believing the erroneous circumstantially supported lies he thought up in his heat of the moment despair the previous evening that caused me to be angry enough to cause that damage in the first place." It turned its head to face Raven. "And I apologize to you," the Beast said, "for the doubts my host and I had about you and the hurtful words I carved on the ceiling of your lair." It bowed its head. "Consider it all taken back and no longer applicable." Raven gulped, and almost numbly nodding her head, both genuinely accepting and grateful for the apology, yet still stunned by the blatant act of murderous intent that the Beast had just committed.

The Beast growled, and turned its head to face Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg once more. "At this time, I shall return control back to my host. Farewell." The Beast reared up its head, and with a groaning low pitched roar, the hulking green monster shrank down upon itself, reverting back to the familiar form of Beast Boy's human shape.

For a brief moment, Beast Boy stumbled to the side, off balance from having just reverted back from his Beast form. He regained sure footing, shook his head side to side to regain his bearings, and then looked at the still stunned looking Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg. He raised his eyebrow in confusion, and looked at Raven, who still looked stunned herself. Then he looked to his right, and his eyes widened in surprise. "Dude," said the green shapeshifter. "Did I do that?"

His four fellow founders turned their heads to look at him. "Well technically," said Robin, "the Beast was the one who dealt the blow. But in a roundabout sense, yes."

Beast Boy looked over at Adonis, now starting to get a full assimilation of the memories of his time as the Beast with his own human form's memories now underway. "I see." He thought to himself, his face then taking on a clear glare. "Admittedly, I cannot say that I'm completely heartbroken by that knowledge."

"Beast Boy," said Robin tensely.

"I know, I know," said Beast Boy. "But even so, it wouldn't be entirely that depressing if he doesn't live through this."

"That doesn't matter," said Robin. "We don't kill." He looked over at Raven. "Raven, I know you're really gonna not like this, but he needs healing, and quick."

Raven raised her eyebrow, and looked over at Adonis. The coughing and bleeding boy turned his head in her direction, his eyes clearly begging for her to do what the Boy Wonder said. Her purple eyes narrowed in revulsion and hatred, her fists clenched, and she turned her head to face Robin, a stone cold expression of defiance on her face. "No."

Robin's eyes widened in shock. Starfire and Cyborg were likewise surprised. Even Beast Boy looked somewhat caught off guard at first; but then a smug smile came on his face. "Glad to see she agrees," he thought to himself.

"No?" Robin asked. "What do you mean no?"

"I said 'no'," said Raven. She folded her arms across her chest. "And I mean _no_."

Robin sputtered for a moment, trying to think of a proper response. "But . . . we . . ."

"Forget it," said Raven. "I don't care what the rules say. I am not healing him."

"Meaning you can't?" Cyborg asked. "Or you won't?"

"Both." Raven nodded to herself. "I couldn't heal him right now even if I wanted to." She gestured over towards the large syringe still lying next to her feet. "And you can thank that very scumbag in need of healing for that."

The other four Titans looked at the syringe. Robin's eyes widened in recognition of the transparent substance within it. "Is that what I think it is?"

"If you're thinking that it's that paralysis drug we managed to read about in the Brotherhood of Dante's database," said Raven, "then yes, it is." She looked down at the syringe, a hateful glare on her face. "He injected a dosage half the size of this one into me over the course of our little confrontation in the forest. It was how he was able to get ahold of me tonight in the first place." She looked over at her four friends. "And not only did he have this syringe, and the one he used to subdue me, but he also had a crystalline case containing an even bigger dosage that was supposed to take me out in the form of a makeshift bomb." She closed her eyes and nodded her head up and down. "But forget that for now. The point is, the second stage wore off 10 minutes or so ago, and I still haven't yet fully regained my powers yet." She opened her eyes and faced the Boy Wonder once more. "Needless to say, I couldn't heal him even if I wanted to," said the sorceress. "And after what he had planned for me tonight, I'd sooner die again then dare help him stay alive at a time like this."

For a brief moment, Robin seemed to be on the verge of reluctantly stating another complaint against this, but then Cyborg placed his hand on the Boy Wonder's shoulder. "Forget it Rob," said Cyborg. "She's already made up her mind. And besides, you've gotta admit, she does have a point." The bionic boy looked over at Adonis, his eyes narrowed. "If we want him to survive this, we're just gonna have to heal him ourselves."

Robin thought to himself, and then nodded his head. "You're right," the Boy Wonder admitted. "Raven deserves better than to fuel this scumbag's delusions in such a way." He glared resignedly in Adonis's direction, slamming his right fist into his left palm. "Here goes nothing." Starfire nodded in agreement, her eyes narrowed angrily at the thought of what Adonis had apparently very narrowly managed to fail to subject Raven to.

Adonis managed to realize just what was going on, and a small hint of his usual smug grin came back on his face as he realized that Starfire was quite easy on the eyes herself. "Well then," he managed to croak. "If I can't have the hot witch, at least I can have some time with the sexy alien instead . . ." Starfire utterly _BLASTED_ Adonis right in the face with her eye beams at full power, and the boy howled in agony as he felt his face start to get mercilessly roasted by the energy.

"Starfire!"

Robin placed his hand on Starfire's shoulder, jolting her out of her focus, her eyebeams almost instantly shutting down in response. After a few seconds, her eyes widened as she realized what she'd just now been doing in her blind rage. She hung her head. "Forgive me Robin," said the Tamaranean. "I lost my temper. I am sorry."

"It's ok," said the Boy Wonder, placing his other hand on Starfire's other shoulder from behind to reassure her. "Really it is."

"Oh yeah," said Adonis. "I love girls with spunk. Come on babe. Gimme some more."

Starfire tensed up again, but Robin made a slight tightening of his grip on her shoulders to signal for her to stand down. "Excuse me," said the Boy Wonder. Without warning, Robin jumped over to Adonis and kicked him hard in the ribs, right in the area nearby his stab wound. Adonis shrieked in pain, involuntarily rearing up from the pain before then wincing again as the motion aggravated the wound in his stomach. Then the Boy Wonder punched Adonis in the face, and the miscreant landed back on his back once more.

The Boy Wonder looked over at Cyborg. "You know Cyborg," he pointed at the groaning and crying Adonis. "Go ahead and take care of him yourself. At this rate, I have a feeling that I'll soon be very tempted to kill him to."

"With pleasure." Cyborg turned to face Adonis, a glare on his face. If this had been unfolding in a cartoon, he would have likely then been shown drawing a surgical glove out of nowhere and ominously snapping it into place over his right hand.

Adonis, miraculously undeterred by this ominous new development, smirked smugly again. "Oh come on," he purred. "Don't make your bruiser do all the work. You know how hot girls like your girlfriend and the witch don't find any attraction at all in boys who hide behind they're hired muscle and don't to any heavy lifting of their . . ."

Raven's right foot suddenly slammed down on the center of Adonis's neck seemingly from out of nowhere, eliciting a shocked and pained gurgle from the stunned miscreant. Raven lifted her foot off of Adonis's neck, and then looked straight at her three stunned friends standing in front of where she and Beast Boy were positioned. "Right in the larynx," she stated coldly. She folder her arms across her chest. "Now we'll at least have some peace and quiet while you guys undeservingly attempt to save his miserable life." Beast Boy chuckled, and gave Raven a thumbs up from behind.

Robin and Starfire thought to themselves, and then nodded in agreement. "In that case," said Robin. "Thank you."

"Yes," Starfire agreed. "Thank you the very much."

"What they said," said Cyborg. He stormed over to Adonis, who was only now finally directing an obvious look of fear towards the advancing bionic boy. Cyborg came to a stop to the downed miscreant's right, staring ominously down towards him. Adonis mentally winced, and tensed himself up, clearly having a feeling that whatever Cyborg was about to do would be far from pleasant for him. "So you think you can violate or likewise have your disgusting way with my little sistas, let alone _think_ of doing such actions, and get away with it?" He shook his head side to side, then glared down at Adonis again. "Rookie mistake buddy. Rookie mistake." He took a deep breath, exhaled, and lifted up his hands ominously. "An especially good thing about that little improvement Raven just gave you?" Cyborg asked. "Not only can you not speak. You also can't scream."

Adonis had just enough time to briefly raise his eyebrow in confusion before Cyborg then very abruptly pressed both hands on the area where his wound was, hard, painfully hard, and in fact considerably harder than necessary. Adonis tensed up at the pain, closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, and then snapped his mouth open and let out a wheezing incoherent hiss and squeak of agony, the only sound he could manage with his damaged larynx. Cyborg, seemingly either not noticing or just not caring about the pained noise Adonis was now making, continued to apply pressure to the miscreant's wound, making sure to use his great strength to make the experience as painful as possible while still avoiding pressing hard enough to run the risk of potentially killing him.

The other four Titans eventually realized just how much excessive pressure Cyborg appeared to be applying, and Robin winced. "Is that really necessary?"

"No," Cyborg admitted. "But boy am I enjoying this." Then he noticed just how much blood was getting on his hands and spreading out from the point of pressure application. "Still, it's gonna take a Hell of a lot more than applying pressure to save him at this rate. And unless Star or BB can somehow fly as fast as Kid Flash can run, then there ain't no way we'll get any proper medical equipment here in time to save him. And that's assuming we even still want to save him, because for some reason even I'm now starting to see the appeal in letting him die."

"Hold that thought for now," said Robin. "I'm thinking." Then his eyes happened to direct a stray glance at the syringe that was still lying nearby the entrance to the cave, and his eyes narrowed, a small idea starting to form in his brain. "Just a moment," said the Boy Wonder. He hurried over to the cave, snatched up the syringe, and bolted back over to where his fellow founders were gathered around Adonis. "Out of the way Cy," said Robin.

Cyborg looked up, saw the large syringe in Robin's hands, and briefly raised his eyebrow. Then he thought to himself, and realized that the Boy Wonder probably knew what he was doing. He nodded his head, and lifted his hands off of Adonis. "He's all yours."

Adonis had just enough time to gasp from the sudden cessation of the pressure on his wound before Robin then very jarringly plunged the tip of the syringe into an area located dangerously close to where his heart was located. Adonis snapped his eyes into position so that he could directly gaze at the syringe, his eyes widening in horror as he realized what Robin was about to do. He directed his eyes up towards the Boy Wonder, panic now clearly showing in his eyes. Robin's masked eyes narrowed, and he gritted his teeth into a silent snarl. "I hope that hurt," the Boy Wonder growled. He then very deliberately slowly pressed down on the syringe, slowly forcing the concoction, drop by drop, into Adonis. "Lights out loser."

Upon receiving the last drop, Adonis had just enough time to look up at Robin again and let out a small wheezing hiss before his eyes rolled up in his head and closed, and his head collapsed onto the ground, completely out cold. Seconds later, at the sound of what seemed to be something rapidly freezing, the Titans looked over at the area where Adonis's wound was located, and saw that it was now starting very quickly to no longer release any more blood. The ice formation noise eventually stopped, and Adonis became apparently quite frozen and immobile. Without a word, Robin withdrew the syringe and wiped off the blood that remained outside of Adonis with his cape, revealing the wound in all its relatively clean and bloodless glory. He got up onto his feet. "I remember reading about the effects of that drug," he stated. "Upon first receiving it, the target is first rendered unconscious. And during this stage, the target also undergoes a state of suspended animation."

Robin turned his head to face his four companions, particularly Raven. "Raven," said the Boy Wonder. "You said that he injected you with this drug at a dosage that was half as big as the one I just gave him?" Raven nodded her head. "How long did the effects of each stage last?" He pointed at Adonis. "One other thing I remember is that there is a second stage in which the victim is awake and capable of speech, but paralyzed and stripped of any special abilities it may or may not have. I also know that both stages last exactly the same amount of time each, with the time limit depending on the dosage given."

"A quarter of an hour each," said Raven. She nodded her head. "That's how long both stages lasted for the dosage I got."

"So presumably," said Robin, "since this dosage I just gave Adonis is twice the amount he gave you, the two stages should last for half an hour each."

"Normally that would be the case."

Robin lifted his eyebrows in confusion.

"If he'd inhaled the dosage," Raven explained, "or had it injected into any other area that wouldn't have been fatal to strike, then yes this dosage's stages would last half an hour each. However," she pointed at the area where Robin had injected Adonis. "Since you allowed the dosage to go straight to his heart, the effect will be doubled."

"In other words," said Beast Boy. "The two stages will last for an hour each."

"Plenty of time to get him back to the tower," Cyborg continued.

"Where we will be able to both heal him and subject him to a very terrible punishment before we deliver him to the authorities," said Starfire.

For a brief moment, Starfire's four fellow Titans gaped at her in shock at what she'd just said. Then Robin found a wolf-like grin coming onto his face. "Star," said the Boy Wonder, "not sure where this new side of you came from, but I'm liking it." He directed his smug look down at the almost literally frozen Adonis. "And that being said," he continued, "time we show this scumbag the more painful side of life at Titans Tower."

"Agreed," said Cyborg. "But how are we going to . . .?"

The sound of a transformation from Beast Boy silenced Cyborg, and the four Titans who couldn't shape shift turned their heads in time to see that Beast Boy had now taken on the form of a giraffe-sized pterosaur with an appropriately long neck, legs, wings, and beak. It even had a small crest on its head that appeared to be shaped like a mixture between a rooster's waddle and a helmet. As the other four Titans found themselves briefly stunned by the sight of the unfamiliar creature Beast Boy had just now turned into, the gigantic pterosaur nodded its head, looked over at Raven, and then moved its head in a motion that indicated that it was gesturing towards its back. Then the creature looked at Cyborg, pressed the tips of its left wing's claws on his shoulder, and then lifted up its right foot and showed Cyborg its talons. Then it pointed at Adonis with one wing, at Cyborg with another, and then positioned its wings as if it were carrying something in them.

"I think what he's trying to say," said Raven, "is that I ride on his back, he'll carry you in his talons by the shoulders, and you will carry Adonis in your arms while he flies us home."

Cyborg, Robin, and Starfire thought to themselves. "That, does actually make sense," Cyborg admitted.

"Which presumably leaves me to have Starfire fly me home," Robin guessed.

"That does sound correct," said Starfire.

"Then that settles it," said Raven. She looked over at Beast Boy. "You ready to go?" The giant green pterosaur squawked in a manner that clearly indicated yes, and then leaned over onto its belly, clearly as a means of silently asking Raven to climb aboard.

"Well that certainly answers that," said Robin. He slammed his left fist into his right palm. "Alright Titans, let's go home." He directed one final glare at Adonis. "We've got a prisoner to take care of."

 **And just like that, another chapter done! BOY I'm hoping you all enjoyed this one, and that you leave a healthy batch of feedback in response! Remember, I require a minimum of 1 review in order to post the next chapter once its completed. And feel free to be as detailed or as simple as you wish! ^_^ Once again, hope you enjoyed this chapter and leave plenty of reviews.**

 **P.S: Just so you all know, the pterosaur that Beast Boy turned into at the end of this chapter is a Quetzalcoatlus. Feel free to look it up.**

 **Coming up Next: The very next morning, with Adonis currently still in the Titans' custody, our heroes have an important meeting to decide his fate.**


	17. Beware the Nice Ones

**Alright everyone! Hope you're all ready for more Teen Titan-ic awesomeness, because here's a new chapter! In this new chapter, with Adonis now in the Titans' custody following the events of the previous night, the Titans have an important meeting to discuss and decide the heinous armored casanova wannabe's fate. Just what will happen to this vile miscreant? Time to find out ya'll! And that being said, here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy!**

 **A/N: But first, just to remind you all once more, I do not own Teen Titans.** ** _NOW_** **on with the fic!**

 **Chapter 16:**

 **Beware the Nice Ones**

The very next morning, at 8:00 in the morning, all of the Titans present in Jump City found themselves gathered around in the still quite trashed common room. Or more accurately, all of the Titans present in Jump City besides the founders were gathered around in the remains of the common room. Right now, the five founders were currently in the interrogation chamber taking care of some very important business, and had only hung around in the common room just long enough to finish their breakfast, wish the other honorary Titans a good morning, and help them get situated before departing for said business.

Upon thought of said business, all of the teen and young adult members of the Titans present winced, mentally shuddering as they realized just what had managed to unfold the previous evening. Bushido, in particular, was still mentally kicking himself for having not been able to keep himself awake long enough to be of any help the previous night in the event that he could have potentially been needed to provide assistance. Kilowatt, meanwhile, was feeling both lucky that he had managed to avoid running the risk of getting Raven's three surrogate 'kids' involved and horrified at just what Raven had narrowly avoided the previous evening. The electrokinetic clenched his fists, his eyes silently narrowing into a glare. "If anything like that were to happen to Mirage," he thought angrily to himself, "then by God, that bastard would be force fed a full course meal made of lightning, and it would be the last sensation he ever experienced."

"Uncle Kilo?" asked Melvin. "Are you ok?"

Kilowatt tensed up in surprise, and turned his head to face Melvin, Timmy, and Teether, who were all looking at him in a mixture of confusion and worry. Kilowatt chuckled nervously, relaxed himself, and turned himself around to completely face the three kids. "Sorry kids." Kilowatt let out another nervous chuckle. "Just thinking about the horror of what your 'mom' just narrowly managed to avoid last night." He shuddered. "And I was also just now thinking of how lucky that monster is right now. You see, your mom reminds me of a very good friend of mine from my home town. And if that friend had undergone any experience like the one your mom just narrowly avoided, I would have definitely needed a whole lot of people holding me back to prevent me from crossing the line in my rage."

"But why?" Melvin asked.

"Yeah," said Timmy. "What was that man last night even planning to do anyway? How would it have been any different from what every other bad guy we've encountered has ever done?"

Kilowatt let a small weak smile come on his face. "Oh how lucky they are to still be so innocent and unaware about matters like this," he thought to himself. He got down on his knees and placed his hands on Timmy and Melvin's shoulders. "You'll understand when you're older," he promised.

The two kids thought to themselves, then hung their heads and sighed. "If you say so," said Timmy. Teether, meanwhile, just looked up at his brother and sister, his eyebrow raised, still clearly looking confused. Kilowatt mentally chuckled at this. "I definitely won't regret waiting for the day he gets let into the loop in regard to this matter," he thought to himself.

The other Titans present in the common room, likewise, were all still somewhat stunned by the full knowledge of just what had gone down the previous night. Speedy, in particular, was especially horrified by the knowledge. "Man, the Master must have really been keeping Jade out of the loop if even she didn't know about the plan being scheduled for exactly last night until this point." Then he mentally winced, and directed a worrying look outside the window in the direction of the forest. "Oh God," he thought to himself. "I hope she's ok."

Meanwhile, Hotspot and Argent looked both stunned and slightly bemused. "I can't believe all that happened right under our own noses and we didn't even notice," Argent thought to herself. Then she hung her head. "Admittedly though," she thought to herself, "that force field I set up around our campsite was pretty strong." And indeed, not too long before she and Hotspot had settled down and gone to sleep in their campsite the previous evening, Argent had set up a force field around their campsite as both a means of serving as mosquito net as well as a means of allowing them privacy. And for the sake of further reducing chances of anything interrupting the more romantic atmosphere that had been building up within their campsite, she had specifically made sure to have it designed to be 100% sound proof from the inside. But now, as she and Hotspot had just now been very surprised to find out, the force field's built in sound proofing had worked far more effectively then they'd expected.

Red Star briefly stole a glance at his two teammates that had been out camping the previous evening, and briefly found himself feeling quite bemused at how they'd very conveniently spent the entire night out camping and never once returned to the Titans North ship until this morning. Then he closed his eyes and shook his head from side to side. Now was not the time to be even thinking of subjecting Hotspot and Argent to yet more teasing about their relationship, let alone actually doing any teasing. He winced. "And not just because of this little Adonis crisis either." In fact, after what he and Pantha had ended up being forced to endure after reuniting with Wildebeest the previous day, he thought it would be awfully counterproductive and hypocritical of him to tease any of his teammates.

What all of the Titans in the common room were thinking in unison, however, was that it was nonetheless a good thing that everything had worked out for Raven and the other founders the previous evening. And at the same time, they also couldn't help but wonder just how things were going for them in the interrogation room at that moment and what they'd have to say when they came back.

. . . . .

It was 8:00 in the morning, and Adonis was feeling quite uncharacteristically nervous. He had first finally woken up from the suspended animation stage of his own drug at 11:40 the previous evening, only to find himself now very firmly stuck in the newly activated paralysis stage while lying spread eagled on his back across a metal surface clearly styled like a surgical table oriented at a diagonal slant that allowed him to directly face the two-way glass mirror on the wall in front of him. And as if the fact that he was now paralyzed wasn't enough, he had his wrists and ankles pinned to the table he was lying on by four metal cuffs. And not only that, but judging from the sensations he was now feeling in his stomach and back areas, it was clear that the Titans had managed to very painfully stitch his wounds shut while he was still unconscious.

For what had seemed like an eternity to the paralyzed and terrified boy, Adonis had stayed awake, staring in fear at his reflection in the mirror, terrified out of his mind by both the knowledge of his current condition and the fear of the unknown in regard to what would happen to him later. And indeed, he was quite certain that whatever the Titans had planned for him would be far from pleasant. Eventually, at around 12:10 am., Adonis had finally ended up falling asleep purely out of sheer exhaustion, and had practically blacked out to sleep. And now, he was wide awake, and the drug was worn off. "What are they gonna do to me?" he thought to himself. He gulped. "What are they gonna do?"

He heard a door opening to his left, and he turned his head just in time to see none other than the 5 founding Titans come walking right in. Adonis gulped as he watched the 5 Titans enter, for it was clear from their facial expressions, tense body language, and the way they were walking that they meant business. The 5 Titans took positions gathered around in front of Adonis, and his heart sank further. "Here we go," he thought to himself, clearly aware that the wait was over, and whatever had been planned for him would now unfold.

"I presume you're wondering why you're here in Titans Tower instead of in the relative safety of Jump City Prison," said Robin.

Adonis thought to himself, and then weakly nodded his head up and down.

"In which case I shall gladly explain." The Boy Wonder folded his arms across his chest, his expression clearly in 'poker face' mode. "Last night, you crossed some serious lines. So serious, in fact, that you've now given us no choice." Robin spread his arms out to gesture at the entire area around him, the other Titans, and Adonis. "Do you have any idea how rarely this area of the tower ever gets used? Up until now, only one criminal has ever been placed within here. The fact that you're the second ever villain we've ever had placed under temporary containment within the tower's interrogation chambers speaks volumes at how much you've forced our hands this time Adonis." The Boy Wonder paused, and then let a wolf-like smirk come on his face. "Or should I say . . . Donald?"

Adonis's eyes widened. He reared up, or at least did as best as he could considering his current position, in surprise. "How did you know my name?"

Robin's smirk widened. "Looks like Speedy's spy is really doing her work well," he thought to himself. Then his smirk morphed effortlessly back into his default 'poker face'. Now was not the time to mention such a matter out loud. The last thing the Titans needed was for their only spy to be accidentally exposed to the Master. "How I came to know about your name is of no concern to you right now Mr. Anderson." Robin folded his arms across his chest once more. "Right now, we've got more important things to worry about, and so do you." He looked over at Raven. "Raven," said the Boy Wonder, "you know what to do."

Raven nodded, and lifted her right hand up while extending it in the direction of Adonis's face, her eyes glowing white. The miscreant's eyes widened. "VALD'R'ON, U'RU'BAENAI, K'VIESTAVAR!"

Adonis felt a brief burning sensation inside his forehead, and he shrieked in pain with his eyes closed. Then the burning sensation ended, Adonis's eyes snapped open, and he gasped as he suddenly felt an overwhelming sensation flood the insides of his mind. At this very moment, he could feel what seemed to be a mass ocean of horrifyingly negative emotions flooding and storming around in his mind. It took all his willpower not to completely lose his mind from the overload he was now feeling of despair, pain, terror, disgust, hate, and similar negative emotions inside his mind. And even worse, he could tell, for a _fact_ , that none of these emotions were his own. He turned his head back towards Raven, his face now clearly terrified and in panic. "What have you done?!"

Raven snarled, her eyes now their usual violet color once more. "Simple," she snarled. "I cast an empathy spell on you." She folded her arms across her chest, her eyes narrowed and a look of pure utter revulsion on her face. "All that stuff you've got in your head right now? Those are all the combined emotions felt by me and every single other girl you've ever threatened, pursued, and violated, successfully or otherwise. Every girl, but especially me. Those emotions that you feel right now that are not your own, that's how me and every other girl you've done wrong towards has ever felt about you. And we have never felt a single positive thing towards you at all." She leaned forward towards Adonis, her purple eyes now burning dangerously with hate from underneath her hood. "And the only way for this spell to stop is for the spell caster to manually undo it. Without that, this spell can last for days, weeks, even months! Just think about that! Feeling all that hatred and despair and fear that you've caused so many helpless girls to feel for so long towards yourself for that much time! Some people who've suffered similar negative empathy spells in history have only managed to last 5 minutes before committing suicide Adonis! And after what you were willing to do to me last night, I am more than willing to allow you to test how long you can last before you get driven to suicide yourself!" As if to further emphasize how Raven was telling the truth, one particularly glaring portion of the hate within the tangled jumble within Adonis's mind began to burn and glow even more strongly than before as if in direct response to Raven's current rising anger. The miscreant gulped, clearly both frightened and ashamed.

Raven stepped back, and Robin walked back up to his earlier position. The other Titans also positioned themselves accordingly. Adonis gulped, and stared at the 5 young heroes timidly, clearly now terrified even more about just what was now very likely about to happen. "Alright Donald," Robin growled. "Raven may have already slammed you with that little spell. But trust me, that's getting off lightly compared to what else we're willing to do to you depending on what sort of direction you decide to have us take." No sooner had Robin said this, when Adonis's eyes proceeded to widen in horror as he watched the five Titans, one by one, perform some very ominous actions that clearly hinted that they were willing to consider resorting to cold blooded torture against him now. Robin very ominously drew out a pair of nunchucks from his utility belt and smacked one end of them against his right palm. Cyborg pressing a button on his left arm that caused his right hand to become engulfed in a small web of what looked like blue lightning. Raven's eyes turned red and her hands began to glow with her distinctive shadowy energy. Beast Boy bared his fangs, took off his gloves, and caused his already pointy fingernails to extend ominously into dangerously long and sharp Wolverine level claws. Starfire, meanwhile, merely caused her eyes to glow very ominously bright to the point that her eyes seemed to ignite into venomous green flames.

Adonis gulped, cringed at the sight of the very pissed off and willing to resort to torture Titans. "This . . . this isn't right," he whimpered. He moved in a way that clearly hinted that he was trying desperately to back himself away from his hopeful torturers. "You don't do this kind of thing! You don't!"

"Usually we prefer not to," said Robin. He stopped smacking his right palm with his nunchuck and gestured at his four friends. "But like I said earlier; you've now given us no choice." The Boy Wonder pointed his finger directly at Adonis. "You need to be punished for the unforgivable actions you attempted to subject Raven to last night, and you also have information that we need to know; and you are going to get that punishment and tell us that information." Robin snarled silently with his eyes narrowed and his teeth gritted. "And we know this, for a _fact_." Robin lifted up his left arm, drawing the nunchuck back as if about to smack Adonis in the face with it. "Now answer me this Donald," Robin snarled, all tensed up and ready to strike. The other Titans likewise tensed up in preparation. "What's it gonna be? The easy way? Or the hard way?"

For a brief moment, Adonis just gaped in shock and terror. Then he shook his head, his face clearly showing that he was now feeling both afraid and just plain dumbfounded. Beast Boy found himself starting to chuckle when he saw this. Adonis heard the chuckling, and his fear and speechlessness turned to anger. In a flash, he snapped his head to face Beast Boy and spat the area around the changeling's feet in an act of pure anger.

Beast Boy looked down at the area where the spit had landed. The other four founding Titans directed their gaze towards the area as well. Adonis let a small smirk cross his face. "Hah, take that loser," he thought to himself smugly. The Titans looked back at Adonis. After what seemed like an eternity, Adonis finally noticed this, and his smug grin faded. He looked back up to face the entire group, a wince of fear and dread now firmly etched across his face as he belatedly realized how very unwise an action he'd just committed. "I'm dead," he thought to himself.

Robin raised his eyebrow, an almost bemused look of pleasure now on his face. "Hard way it is then." Adonis winced, now clearly preparing himself for the pain to come.

Robin clipped up his pair of nunchucks and slipped it back into his utility belt. The other Titans, likewise seemingly stood down. Adonis raised his eyebrow. "I thought we were doing this the hard way."

"We are," said Robin. "We were just getting warmed up."

The Boy Wonder looked over at Raven, an almost conspiratorial grin now on his face. Raven, her own face as emotionless as ever, nodded her head up and down. She looked over at Beast Boy, her eyebrow raised. Beast Boy grinned, the look on his face now making him look very disturbingly look like the kind that would be found on the Cheshire Cat. The shapeshifter looked over at Adonis, his grin still on his face. Then he chuckled, and morphed into . . . something.

Adonis raised his eyebrow. Whatever Beast Boy had just turned into; he couldn't see it. He directed a look of confusion at the other Titans. Robin only grinned, causing Adonis to raise his eyebrow again. Then Adonis heard something slam down on the area directly to the right of his left foot, simultaneously feeling the force of the impact. The miscreant's eyes widened, and he directed his eyes downward in time to see what looked like a large, green, scaly, lizard-like foot with claws on it clenched onto the area where he'd heard and felt the impact. All of three seconds later, a second such leg rose up into his line of vision and slammed down on the area directly to the left of his right foot. Then the creature's head rose up into view, and Adonis found his eyes widening in surprise at the sight. He had remembered seeing this very creature, albeit in a less obviously grown color scheme, at the local zoo. "A Komodo dragon?" he asked. "Seriously? How's a pathetic lizard supposed to make me talk?"

Raven shook her head, her face silently grunting a 'tsk, tsk'. "Pathetic lizard?" She folded her arms across her chest. "We all knew you were an idiot. But we sure as Azar didn't think you'd be _this_ suicidally stupid."

Adonis raised his eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Raven shook her head again, and then directed her gaze towards Beast Boy the Komodo dragon. "Ever been bitten by a Komodo dragon?"

Adonis almost laughed at the sheer randomness of the question. "What kind of question is that?"

"A needless one," said Raven. "Because the answer's obvious. Why? You're alive."

Adonis narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

Raven narrowed her eyes and glared dangerously at Adonis. Adonis actually gulped, and cringed in fear at the sight of the look that was now on Raven's face. "I went to the zoo yesterday with Beast Boy," said Raven. "The very lizard that Beast Boy has just transformed into was the first animal that he and I saw on display." She directed her gaze down at the green Komodo dragon, which was now hissing and shaking its head in anticipation. "And I remember quite well the very interesting information he taught me about these creatures." She looked back up at Adonis. "They may not be able to breath fire or have any other of the other abilities commonly associated with their namesake. But with what they do have, they don't need any of those abilities."

The sorceress looked over at Beast Boy, and nodded her head. The lizard growled, looked back at Adonis, and opened its jaws wide open, causing Adonis to blanch at the sight of its unnervingly sharp teeth. "Within a Komodo dragon's mouth," Raven explained, "is a mass amount of a very rare bacteria."

Adonis raised his eyebrow. "So it's got bad oral hygiene. Big deal."

"Oh there's more to it than that." Raven pointed her finger at the head of the green Komodo dragon. "The bacteria in the mouth of this species of lizard? It's nothing at all like any other bacteria. This bacteria? 100% venomous."

Adonis's eyes widened at the sound of this word. As idiotic as he was, he knew perfectly well what the word 'venomous' meant. He looked at the Komodo dragon that was now present before him and at the ready to bite him, now regarding it with considerably more fear than he had before.

"And the worst part," Raven continued, "is that there is _no_ antidote. Zero. None. Just one bite, and the victim will die. Simple as that." Adonis felt his heart plummet. "And not only that," Raven continued, "but the lizards themselves know this to." She folded her arms across her chest. All they need to do is just give their target a single bite, and then they scamper off to a safe distance. Because they don't need to fight their prey to the death. No way. All they have to do is just bite their target, and then they spend however much time it takes just following the unfortunate animal around, waiting patiently until the target inevitably succumbs to the bacteria and keels over dead as a dodo. And once that's happened, the Komodo dragons are more than prepared to just walk right over to the corpse, and dig in."

Adonis gulped, looked over at the green Komodo dragon fearfully, shuddered at the sight of the creature licking its lips and hissing, and then directed a fearful look back at Raven and the other three Titans. "You're not seriously . . .?"

"You have till the count of 10," Raven stated coldly. She pointed back at Beast Boy. "And unless you talk, our friend here is going to allow you to find out the hard way exactly how it feels to fall victim to a Komodo dragon's bite." She folded her arms across her chest. "And in the event that that happens, we won't be able to save you even if we wanted to."

Adonis blanched, his eyes widening in shock and fear. "Hold on," he stated. "You can't seriously be . . ."

"10."

Adonis stopped talking, gulping in fear. He looked over at the green Komodo dragon, which now had an almost human-like look of smug satisfaction on its face. He looked back at Raven. "You're out of your mind!"

"9."

Adonis's eyes widened again. Clearly, Raven was serious.

"Well calling her 'out of her mind' certainly isn't going to help your case," said Cyborg.

Adonis gaped over at Cyborg. "You're joking!"

"8."

"Are we?" said Cyborg.

"7."

"This isn't you," Adonis whimpered. "You'd never let something like this happen! Never!"

"Are you really sure you want to test that theory?" said Robin.

"6."

Adonis growled, and jerked against his restraints. "That's it! I'm done with these games! Let me out of here!"

"Tell us what we need to know, and we'll let you live," said Robin.

"I'm serious!" Adonis yelled.

"5."

"This isn't funny!" Adonis roared.

"Do we look like we're joking?" Cyborg asked.

"4."

"There's no way you'd possibly get away with this!"

"3."

"Go to Hell!"

"Already going there," said Robin.

"2."

"This is blackmail!"

"1."

Beast Boy the Komodo dragon hissed, reared up his head, and opened his mouth to the fullest, clearly ready and eager to bite Adonis right on the ankle.

"Ok, ok, ok! I'll talk! I'll talk! Just don't let him bite me! Don't let him bite me! DON'T LET HIM BITE ME!"

. . . . .

At around 8:30, all the ancillary Titans were still lounging in the destroyed remains of the common room waiting for the founders to come back. And at this point, some of them were starting to get impatient. Speedy, in particular, looked especially impatient as he was pacing back and forth in front of the main doorway to the room. "What's taking him so long?" the archer growled.

Aqualad sighed. "Look man, please be patient," said the Atlantean. "I'm sure everything's fine."

"You really sure about that?" Speedy grumbled. In fact, he himself was quite certain that the founding Titans were alright. In fact, the real reason he was currently acting the way he was due to his getting increasingly nervous about whether or not Cheshire was still safe and hadn't managed to accidentally get herself exposed to her boss as the Titans' spy. And this possibility was something that Speedy very much wanted to not ever become a reality. "I've already lost one girl," he thought to himself. "I refuse to allow myself to lose a second."

Fortunately, out of all the gathered Titans present, Terra was smart enough to connect the dots. "Speedy, please relax. I'm sure that Cheshire is fine. And even in the event that she isn't, getting all frantic and bent out of shape in worry over her won't help her."

Speedy tensed, fighting to keep himself from flat out exploding in a mixture of anger and worry. All the other Titans present held their breath. Then Speedy very abruptly relaxed, sighing heavily. He turned around, walked on over towards his gathered friends, and sat down at the top of the small set of steps leading down to where the sofa had once been located. "You're right," the archer admitted. "Cheshire could yet be perfectly safe, and getting all twisted out of shape won't help her in the event that she isn't." He hung his head, sighing once more. "I'm still so worried though."

Terra nodded her head. "I understand perfectly," the geomancer admitted. She lifted her head, sighed, and then said. "Believe me, if I were the one potentially in big trouble, I'm sure Garth would probably be right there in your shoes and getting all worried sick about my wellbeing."

Bushido raised his eyebrow in confusion. "No more anxious then the rest of us, surely?"

In perfect unison, Speedy, Aqualad, and Terra turned their heads towards Bushido and directed a withering death glare so strong that the hardened young samurai warrior actually sweat dropped. "By Kami," he thought to himself. "What did I do?" Then the samurai noticed that all of the other Titans alongside the three who'd just now started glaring at him were also directing the exact same 'really?' death glare towards him as well. Bushido gulped upon realizing this. "Jeez," he thought to himself. "Was it something I said?"

Kilowatt face palmed, sighing heavily. "Seriously man?" he said. "No wonder you never get laid."

All the teens and young adults in the room, including Bushido, snapped their heads around to face the electrokinetic, clearly appalled by his recent comment. "DUDE!" Aqualad yelled. He gestured at Melvin, Timmy, Teether, and the twins. "THERE ARE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AGE CHILDREN HERE!"

Kilowatt winced, now clearly regretting his words. "Sorry," he grunted weakly.

"What is he talking about?" Melvin asked.

"That's need to know," said Bumblebee, her finger raised in a way that brooked no argument. "And you do not yet need to know."

For a brief moment, the five especially young members of the Titans just stared at their elders with raised eyebrows. The older Titans all collectively mentally held their breaths, hoping like mad that the 5 children would willingly drop the matter and refrain from perhaps going out to ask Bobby to 'convince' them to talk. Then the 5 kids looked at each other, thought to themselves, and nodded their heads up and down in agreement. "If you say so," said Melvin. The elder Titans all mentally exhaled in relief.

Then Aqualad realized a little detail that he was quite certain now that Terra had possibly been implying earlier in her comments that had inspired Bushido's earlier slip up. "Terra," said the Atlantean. "Do correct me if I'm wrong, but are you implying that Speedy has a thing for Cheshire?"

The other Titans present apart from Terra all jolted in surprise, now finally connecting the dots themselves. Speedy also jolted in shock at first, then he grimaced, and directed a half sheepish and half dreading look on his face. "Oh dear," he thought to himself, clearly now fully expecting to be either teased or yelled at. "Here it comes."

"Well yeah," said Terra. She gestured over at Speedy. "I mean come on, just look at how he was acting just now. No one acts like that on someone's behalf unless they really, really, really care about that person. And judging by how Robin's acted none too different in some situations involving Star, Speedy clearly has got the hots for our little spy. I mean really, isn't it obvious?"

All the other Titans apart from Speedy thought to themselves, and then their eyes all widened as they realized that the blonde geomancer had a point. As one, they all turned their heads towards Speedy, their faces silently asking, 'Is this true?'. Speedy grimaced, clearly not enjoying this newfound scrutiny he was being placed under. "Oh Hell," he thought to himself.

At that moment, Speedy was spared from further potential torture when the sound of the common room doors opening split the air. As one, the gathered Titans all looked in that direction just in time to see none other than the 5 founders come walking in. And judging from the looks on the faces of all but Raven, they were clearly quite pleased with themselves. Upon seeing this, Bumblebee let a sly grin come on her face. "I take it from the ridiculously happy looks on your faces that the interrogation was a success."

"Indeed," said Robin. He looked over at Speedy, a teasing smirk on his face. "And before you ask, I had Raven use her psychic contact; our spy is perfectly safe."

Speedy instinctively exhaled in relief. "Thank God," he said without thinking. The other Titans, including the founders, all smirked upon hearing this, and thus receiving perfect confirmation as to their suspicions. But at the current moment, further grilling the archer about the matter would have to wait.

"But moving on from that," said Robin. "Time to talk about what our prisoner had to say." His grin returned. "And believe me, once he realized that Beast Boy actually was willing to bite him while in the form of a Komodo dragon, that idiot actually proved quite talkative."

Terra's eyes widened in a mixture of shock and horror. "Hold on," she said. "Beast Boy was willing to _what_?!"

"Not important," said Beast Boy. "What is important, is just what Adonis had to say after he finally cracked."

"And like Rob said," said Cyborg. He chuckled, and folded his arms across his chest. "That moron had _quite_ a lot to say."

"Indeed," said Robin. He cleared his throat. "The most important thing he said though is, just as Speedy was informed of yesterday, the Master has come to Jump City."

At the sound of this, almost all of the other Titans started rapidly whispering and talking around at each other. They all were well aware of the adventure involving Terra's brother Geo-Force that had occurred the previous summer, and thus knew perfectly well just who Robin was referring to by 'the Master'. Terra, however, had a withering glare on her face at nothing in particular, and very noticeably clenched both her fists. Aqualad noticed how his girlfriend was currently behaving, and raised his eyebrow in a clearly worried fashion. "Um Terra?" said the Atlantean. "Are you ok?"

Terra found herself quite startled at first, then she looked at Aqualad, then at her hands. She took a deep breath, sighed, and relaxed, unclenching her fists in the process. "I'm ok," said the blonde. She nodded her head. "Sorry about that; it's just, what he did to my brother . . ." Aqualad placed a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. "I understand Tara," said the Atlantean. "What happened to your brother thanks to that monster is unforgivable. But don't worry, I'm sure we'll all get the chance to properly get justice for him and take out the monster responsible at some point sooner or later."

Kid Flash, meanwhile, soon had a question of his own, and he raised his hand.

"Yes?" said Robin upon catching sight of his old friend's hand in the air.

"So the guy who brainwashed Terra's big bro is in town," said the speedster. He placed his hands against his chin as if he were thinking. "Now the question is, what does he want now?"

"According to Adonis," said Cyborg. "He's come to attempt to recruit local villains into that army we interrupted his efforts at forming last summer."

Raven nodded her head. "Indeed," said the sorceress. She looked over at all the other gathered Titans. "Even before we got him into a position of being able to get interrogated, he was already dumb enough to brag about it to me while I was still under the effects of that drug. It seems that, after what happened with Geo-Force, the Master's decided that he's better off recruiting people who are already villains or will likewise be willing to work for him without having to be mind controlled into serving him. As for why it's taken so long for us to hear anything about him after last summer, my best guess is that he decided it was best for him to lay low and let us get busy with other stuff so as to lower our chances at causing too much damage to his plans."

Kid Flash thought to himself, and then nodded. "Makes sense," said the speedster.

"Mm-hm," said Jinx, nodding her head up and down. "I can certainly see the reasoning behind it; after all, Brother Blood followed a pretty similar strategy when looking for students to enroll at H.I.V.E."

"You got that right," Bumblebee agreed. The other Titans, likewise, showed agreement.

"Well that's good and all," said Hotspot. He looked over at the founders. "But now that leaves us with another concern. Just who has this Master fellow attempted to recruit?"

"Another question easily answered," said Beast Boy. The changeling cleared his throat. "Apparently, much like our helpful spy told Speedy yesterday, only two people so far. One of them, as I'm sure you guys have probably guessed by now, was Adonis. The other . . ." He hung his head, sighing in half resignation and half regret. He shook his head side to side, sighed once more, and lifted his head to face the ancillary Titans. "The other person was apparently some random dude named Todd Jameson."

The instant Beast Boy said the name, Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg discreetly directed their gaze at Raven. Beast Boy himself, likewise, directed a surreptitious gaze towards her as well. As usual, the sorceress showed no visible reaction. Even so, her four fellow founders were quite certain that this particular bit of information was even now still affecting her far strongly then she was letting on, particularly considering that she'd already been made aware of it in the first place while they'd been in the midst of interrogating Adonis.

The ancillary Titans all had the same look of confusion on their faces. "Who's Todd Jameson?" Herald asked.

 _I agree with Herald_ , Jericho signed. _I myself would very much like to know who this person is_ , he continued. Kole translated for him on both sentences.

"At first glance," said Starfire. "Seemingly an ordinary boy resident of this city who lives the goth lifestyle."

This information hardly reduced any of the ancillary Titans' confusion. "Well what use would this Master being have for some random goth civilian?" said Argent.

"That's something that could very likely be extremely important for us to know," said Robin. The Boy Wonder pounded his right fist against his left palm. "Believe me, you're not the only ones who find it odd that this being, whoever he is, would go to the trouble of attempting to recruit some seemingly harmless civilian to what he hopes to be a powerful army of villains. That being said, if he's attempting to hire _this_ civilian, let alone any other civilian, odds are there's likely more to said civilian than meets the eye." His masked eyes narrowed, for he was now thinking of both the fact that the mysterious Master was apparently planning to recruit this civilian and the fact that the boy's name had somehow seemed so familiar to him for some reason. "And with the way we do things, it's best that whatever secrets this guy's hidden from us don't remain secret for long. Whatever these particular secrets are, they're apparently to qualify him for an attempt at recruitment to this Master being's army. And that qualifies them for investigation by the Titans."

"What about the Master himself?" asked Red Star. The former soldier nodded his head. "I understand that the current information is valuable komandir, but it will not entirely do nearly as good as it could if this Master is allowed to roam around to continue to recruit more of our enemies here in Jump City, and who knows where he could be right now."

"A valid concern," Robin admitted. "Which is why, thanks to Adonis having conveniently spouted off the handy detail about just where his hopeful future boss has set up shop, we're going to go off on a little side trip to the Master's current lair and see if we can catch him before he either looks for more recruits among the local villains, or in the event that he already knows we're on to him, before he gets the chance to cut his losses and flee again like he did last summer."

"Ahem," said Raven.

Robin winced. "But first," the Boy Wonder admitted. "There is one equally important thing we must get out of the way." He looked around at all the gathered Titans. "We need to decide just what to do with Adonis. I don't know what you guys want to do with him, but I know that we can't legally keep him in our custody forever, and as inconvenient as this other bit might seem to some amongst you, I'd very much prefer we not risk soiling our reputations by killing him." Kilowatt briefly tensed up upon hearing that last bit, but then he mentally took a deep breath and calmed himself down, for he knew that his old friend from his hometown would likely agree with Robin, and he himself preferred to honor his friend.

"Can't we just send him off to jail then?" Kid Flash stated. "Quick and simple?"

"This time might be a bit more complicated," said Robin.

"How?" asked Aqualad.

Robin looked over to Raven, who nodded her head. "As you all know," the sorceress explained, "Adonis has a very unhealthy obsession in my regard."

"That's one way to put it," Beast Boy snarled.

"But last night," Raven continued, seemingly ignoring Beast Boy's comment. "He came very unacceptably close to actually _succeeding_ in getting what he wanted from me." The other Titans all shuddered, not even wanting to think about the matter that had just gotten brought up again.

"And that being said," Robin continued. "With how close he got this time, odds are high he's gonna decide to work extra hard at finally finishing the job next time, and be especially more determined than ever. And considering how little time it already tends to take for the supervillains around here to get out of Jump City prison, suffice it to say that I'm not so sure if we can still trust them with keeping Adonis out of equation under these particular circumstances."

"And not only that," said Cyborg. "But as we found out last night, out of the two of them, it turns out both Beast Boy _and_ Adonis are still capable of assuming their respective Beast modes in spite of the antidote I gave them three years ago on the night they first appeared. And after all that's gone down last night, I wouldn't put it past that slimy little punk to attempt to find a way to make himself access the power of his Beast more often than he currently has just to fulfill his goals. And I quite doubt that Jump City Prison has any means available of properly keeping that creature contained."

"Please," said Starfire. "Is it truly necessary to worry so about this?" She gestured at Raven. "I mean, that spell she subjected him to, surely that would be enough to permanently discourage him?"

"While I admire the sentiment, it's better to be safe than sorry." Robin nodded his head up and down as if in agreement with his own statement. "And besides, I can't be entirely 100% certain just yet that Raven's little spell will truly be enough to discourage Adonis that easily. He could yet think up some sort of loophole to take advantage of to shake off whatever trauma he may or not have managed to undergo from being hit by that spell. And even if he doesn't manage to do that, sometimes villains are just far enough gone that such extremes will hardly leave that much of a lasting effect. Believe me, I can name at least two villains that I used to encounter alongside Batman very often who would gladly either laugh it off or be _inspired_ by the experience." Starfire hung her head. "But nonetheless, I appreciate the sentiment."

"Well can't we just figure out ways to properly keep Adonis contained while in Beast form and allow the prison to set them up for Adonis's cell?" Kid Flash asked. He shook his head side to side as if to emphasize how he didn't see any problem with his suggestion whatsoever. "I mean, hey nothing wrong with the idea, and it solves all our current problems with Adonis. We get to avoid killing him, and he gets to stay in an especially secure imprisonment setting that we'll likely be considerably more difficult for him to escape from than before."

"And that's all fine and dandy," said Robin. Then he pointed at Beast Boy. "Until we get to the part where the government _insists_ that we subject Beast Boy to the same conditions." The other Titans all thought to themselves, mentally gulped as they realized that their fearless leader had a valid point. They looked over at Kid Flash, who thought to himself, reached the same conclusion, and nodded his head. "Fair point," said the speedster.

"Well perhaps we could at least try the idea out?" said Speedy. "I mean come on, it's hardly too big of a price to pay." All the other Titans, the five founders included, directed withering glares at the archer. Speedy, however, seemingly didn't notice, or just didn't care. "Besides," the archer continued slowly walking over towards Robin. "It's not like this would be the first time one of us has gone to an extreme or two to make sure that we did what was right. And hey, Batman himself has both been willing, and actually done, exactly that kind of thing multiple times in the past, and even to this day."

Robin grabbed Speedy by both sides of the collar of his shirt and yanked him forward. Speedy gasped in shock, but didn't otherwise even get the chance to react before Robin leaned his face jarringly close to the archer's and angrily shouted, "I'M NOT BATMAN!"

For a brief few seconds, all of the other Titans gaped in shock at what Robin had just done and said. Speedy eventually managed to shake off his shock, regain his composure, and glare at Robin. "So what?" he growled, anger and lingering worry over Cheshire's wellbeing now clouding his judgment. "You've acted like him often enough in the past. . ."

Speedy never saw the punch coming, and the archer was sent stumbling backwards and crashed hard on the floor on his back after the Boy Wonder's right fist pounded him painfully hard right in the face. Speedy had just enough time to get himself back up into a seated position on the floor before the now very angry Robin pointed his finger at the archer and roared, "YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT?!" Speedy gulped, and opened his mouth to reply, only for Robin to interrupt. "BECAUSE I _DO_! I KNOW DAMN WELL HOW OFTEN I'VE ACTED LIKE BATMAN IN THE PAST! HELL, IT'S EXACTLY HOW MUCH LIKE BATMAN I'VE BEEN IN THE PAST THAT ALLOWS ME TO UNDERSTAND HOW SIMILAR I AM TO _SLADE_!"

Robin clenched his fists, growled, narrowed his eye, and started storming off left and right in a very tense and angry pacing. "AND I AM SICK AND TIRED OF BEING LIKE THAT! IT'S NOT LIKE I'M PROUD OF IT! HELL, I NEVER EVEN _WANTED_ TO BE LIKE EITHER OF THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE, LET ALONE LIKE JUST BATMAN ALONE! THAT'S WHY I LEFT BATMAN AND GOTHAM CITY! THAT'S WHY I EVENTUALLY CHOSE TO BE THE LEADER OF A TEAM INSTEAD OF WORKING SOLO LIKE I ORIGINALLY WANTED TO DO! THAT'S WHY I'VE CHOSEN TO CHANGE HOW I ACT AND TREAT YOU ALL DIFFERENTLY THEN BEFORE AFTER EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED IN TOKYO!" He came to a stop at his original position, turned around to face Speedy, and pointed his finger at the archer again. "AND THAT'S WHY I REFUSE, AND I MEAN _REFUSE_ , TO WILLINGLY DO EVEN THE _SLIGHTEST_ THING SIMILAR TO HIM IF THERE'S EVEN A _TINY_ CHANCE OF AVOIDING IT! BECAUSE I AM DONE WITH BEING LIKE HIM! I'M SICK OF BEING LIKE HIM! I DON'T WANT TO BE LIKE HIM AND NEVER DID! I AM NOT BATMAN! I WON'T BE BATMAN! I! _CAN'T_! BE! BATMAN!"

All the other Titans remained silent, gaping speechlessly at Robin for what seemed like an eternity. Sure they'd all seen Robin lose his temper before. However, even so, they'd still never quite fully seen him get quite _this_ angry before. And as much as they knew about how uncomfortable he was with talking about his past at all, let alone the time he'd spent under Batman's wing, they had never once expected him to blow his top and rant as much as he'd just done right that very moment. Eventually, Speedy managed to fight off his shock, gulp, and hang his head in shame, clearly now feeling guilty about his actions and behavior that had caused his old friend to blow up so savagely. "You're right," Speedy said, almost croaking from the shame. "I'm sorry."

Robin breathed heavily, took a deep breath, and exhaled. "It's ok," said the Boy Wonder, now sounding more tired than angry. All the other Titans mentally exhaled in relief.

Then Beast Boy tensed up, his face silently screaming 'Eureka!'

Terra noticed this. "What is it BB? You've got an idea?"

All the other Titans, fellow founders included, directed their heads towards Beast Boy, clearly willing to listen to what the changeling had to say, especially in the event that he turned out to have a good idea on just how to resolve their current problems involving Adonis. The shapeshifter took a deep breath, exhaled, and then looked up at all his friends, a determined look on his face. "Forgive me if this sounds at all insulting," the changeling began. "But I'm starting to think, we may be approaching this problem with a little too narrow a focus in regards to potential solutions." He cleared his throat. "To be more specific, I believe we're putting too much faith in the solution only being capable of being found here in Jump City. I mean, think about it. Do you guys not get how _big_ this country is? The continent even? I may not always be the sharpest fang in the jaw, but even I know that Jump City prison certainly isn't the only jail in America. There are plenty of other jails that we could send Adonis, and several that have considerably better security to."

The other Titans thought to themselves, and nodded in agreement as one. Beast Boy certainly had a point.

"That is true," Robin admitted. "But we can't legally do that."

"Doesn't mean someone else can't get it done for us." Beast Boy folded his arms across his chest. "In fact, I'm actually thinking of one especially high security prison that has an especially strong reputation for how good of a job it does at keeping its inmates contained. And not only do I think that this would be a good place to send Adonis to, but I also think it would be even more helpful if he were in the exact same cell as a certain other inmate already there."

At this point, all the ancillary Titans looked just plain confused. The other four founders hardly seemed any more knowledgeable about just what the heck the changeling was talking about. "What do you mean?" asked Robin.

"Who are you talking about?" asked Cyborg.

"And why that particular criminal?" asked Starfire.

Beast Boy chuckled nervously, intertwined his fingers together as if he were about to start wringing his hands, and continued, "Well hey, we know how unhealthily obsessed Adonis is for Raven, and how very twistedly and utterly convinced he is that he's in love with her and she with him."

"Don't remind me," Raven snarled.

"And we all know that, regardless of whether or not what he's feeling actually is even love at all, let alone the kind he thinks it is, we can all admit that this is a kind of emotional motivator right?"

"Yes Beast Boy," Robin replied, damn near growling. He spread his hands out sideways, his face still clearly showing that he was starting to get exasperated. "Spit it out Beast Boy. What's your idea?"

Beast Boy winced, clearly realizing only now how unnecessarily long he was dragging the matter out. "Look," he began. "The point is; we're dealing with a psychopath with an emotional motivator."

Robin tensed up as if about to angrily remind Beast Boy that this fact was already quite clear, but Starfire placed a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder, and the caped crusader reluctantly managed to keep himself in check. Clearly his girlfriend believed that Beast Boy would get to the point sooner or later.

"Well the thing is," Beast Boy continued, "this particular criminal that I think Adonis would do well to share a cell with? Emotions are kind of his thing." The changeling thought to himself, and then nodded up and down. "And with that in mind, I'm sure that it might be kinda . . . therapeutic, if you will . . . for Adonis to spend quality time with this guy. I mean, knowing this potential cellmate, I'm sure he'd be more than happy to discuss that little matter with Adonis." Beast Boy paused, thinking to himself. Then he allowed his eyes to move into position so that they were directly looking at his four fellow founders once more, a wolf-like grin now on his face in the place of his earlier partially nervous look. "In fact, I'm actually quite _positive_ that this hopeful cellmate of Adonis would very much enjoy the _taste_ of it."

The ancillary Titans raised their eyebrows, still not quite getting what Beast Boy was getting at. They looked over at the changeling's fellow founders. For a brief few seconds, the other four founding members of the team remained just as confused as the rest of the Titans, sans Beast Boy. Then, one by one, their eyes widened as comprehension finally dawned on them, and they realized _exactly_ what Beast Boy was suggesting.

"Beast Boy," said Starfire. "It is not often such a moment as this occurs thanks to you, but I honestly believe that you couldn't have possibly come up with a better idea right now."

Cyborg chuckled, nodding his head up and down in agreement with a smug smile on his face. "I'm liking this idea already."

"Beast Boy," said Raven. "I can't believe I'm saying this; but as of this moment, you are once again, officially a genius."

Beast Boy chuckled. "I have my moments."

All the ancillary division Titans still looked confused, and they all directed their attention towards Robin, hoping that the Boy Wonder would be able to explain to them just what was going on. But unfortunately, as it soon turned out, they were going to have to wait a little while longer.

"Please excuse me," said the Titans' fearless leader. He turned around and walked out through the main doors to the common room, digging into his utility belt for his communicator. "I have a phone call to make."

 **And just like that, another chapter complete. I will admit, I certainly did have fun with this one, and I hope you all likewise enjoyed reading it! ^_^ That being said, here's me hoping that you all leave a respectable amount of feedback. Remember, I require a minimum of** ** _1_** **review for this chapter in order to post the next one. And that being said, feel free to be as detailed, or as simple as you want in leaving a review. On another note, I might as well get one little thing or two out of the way. Feel free to let me know what you think in regards to just how the Titans handle Adonis in this chapter. Hopefully I approached the matter properly and had everyone behave reasonably. And speaking of the interrogation, any thoughts on the spell I had Raven slam Adonis with? Or how I had all that stuff about Komodo Dragons from that whopping huge chapter from a long while back turn out to be such an epic Chekhov's gun. Speaking of the spell, I'm quite certain that those of you who have read (and are fans of) Christopher Paolini's 'Inheritance Cycle' books (as in ERAGON) like myself will recognize the inspiration that I got from them in forming the words for the empathy spell Raven cast. Also, the way I see it, Speedy at this point would be very concerned for Cheshire's safety, and not just because of pragmatic reasons either ;). Also, I (like TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne and Jovan2013) believe that Robin would be at this point more than a little uncomfortable with talking about his past with Batman and that it would also be quite reasonable for him to outright flip out if pushed too far on the matter, especially if compared to Batman in being similar to him in ways that Robin would very much prefer** ** _not_** **to be similar. Finally, please do feel free to guess A: just which alternate choice of prison Beast Boy is referring to, B: the exact identity of the potential (and apparently now quite preferred) cellmate, and C: just who Robin is about to make that phone call to. Anyway, just like that, again I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and leave plenty of feedback! Peace ya'll! ^_^**

 **Coming up next: Justice is served, and Adonis learns the hard way just how much more kind it would have been for the Titans to let him die on Valentine's Day night.**


	18. My Crummy Valentine

**What's this?! A new chapter!? Already!? WOW! I must be on a roll! ^_^ Pity though that this is the 2nd to last chapter for this story, but hey! Still nice to get an update so quickly eh? Well then. That being said, in this chapter, justice is served, Adonis gets a very scathing dressing down and disillusionment of all chances he thought he may have had from his own hopeful future boss, and the miscreant soon learns the very hard way how much more kind the Titans and the Master would have been to let him die instead of being left at the mercy of what soon turns out to be in store for him at Belle Reve. Sound exciting?! Certainly hope so! Here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy!**

 **A/N: But first, just so you know, I do not own Teen Titans. And I don't own anything else obviously DC based or similarly owned by a higher legal power than myself. However, I DO own a certain OC that makes his glorious return in this chapter ;). Ready? Onward we go!**

 **Chapter 17:**

 **My Crummy Valentine**

The very next morning, Adonis was in quite a foul mood. In fact, he'd been in this foul mood since the previous day, and it had all started after the Titans had finished interrogating him. He snarled at the memory. After finally cracking and agreeing to cooperate so as to avoid certain death by Beast Boy in Komodo dragon form, it had taken what had seemed to him like an eternity through the effects of the empathy spell and the ever present threat of the hissing green Komodo dragon for the Titans to finally deem that they'd gotten all the information they needed that he was capable of providing. Upon reaching that point, Beast Boy had reverted back to human form, Raven had undone the spell, and the five founding Titans had departed from the interrogation chamber and left him all alone once more.

An hour and a half later, the founding Titans had returned, and with news that had not left him in any better of a mood. While he would thankfully no longer be under the custody of the Titans themselves, he would not be going to the familiar Jump City prison either. Instead, as it turned out, he had been granted clearance for transfer to some bigshot super-jail all the way down in some random town in Louisiana. And soon after this news had been provided, he had been handed over to a contingent of policemen who'd already had the necessary transport prepared and ready. And from that point onward, he had been prepared for transport and shipped off to what would apparently be his brand new unwilling home away from home for what would almost certainly be a good long while. And as if to further add insult to injury, he couldn't even have the dignity of being actually placed within his planned cell just yet, due to some unexpected requested preparations that apparently needed to be made. And so, much to Adonis's chagrin, he'd been forced to spend the night in the hardly comfortable, though thankfully not Spartan, accommodations of his transport compartment, which he couldn't help but note had been designed to be very similar to something he'd seen get used on several inhumans in the 3rd season of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Now, it was about 9:00 in the morning the very next day in local time, and there still hadn't been any word of him being allowed to be taken to his cell yet. Needless to say, Adonis was now starting to get quite impatient, and he'd hardly ever been the type for patience before in the past. He directed a withering glare at the door to his compartment from the bed he was now sitting on, unconsciously lifting his hand up to the inhibitor collar that had been placed around his neck by the members of his police escort the previous day to prevent the Beast inside him from physically manifesting. "Hurry up," the boy mentally growled. "If I'm gonna be staying here in your fancy little prison, then you could at least have the decency to go ahead and let me be placed in a proper cell." He lowered his head, sighing in exasperation. "God, of all the rotten luck," he whispered to himself.

Then Adonis thought of one other detail, and his mood soured even more. "And doggone it," he thought irritably to himself. "Where the heck is my future boss?!" He looked around the room, getting increasingly angrier and more annoyed as he thought and stewed more and more about how his apparent hopeful future master had now seemingly just up and abandoned him at a time where he could have probably proven quite helpful. "Where the Devil is he when you need him?" Adonis thought to himself, still quite enraged at the apparent snub, and with his head now looking over to his left. "If he really was as willing to give me a chance at recruiting me into his grand and powerful army of villains as he indicated, then by golly he should have had me busted out by now!"

"In light of the circumstances behind this mess," spoke a familiar voice from directly to the miscreant's right, "your opinion of how worthy you are of my even caring about your well being, let alone about me trying to go to the trouble of getting you out of here, is far higher than what should reasonably be expected."

Adonis's eyes widened, and he whipped his head to look to his right, and saw none other than the familiar dark cloaked figure standing right by the edge of the bed he was sitting on, its red eyes glowing ominously in a color tone that clearly hinted that the being was seemingly quite angry. Adonis was briefly stunned by the sudden appearance of the very figure he'd been so angry about apparently abandoning him to his upcoming fate. Then he fully realized the fact that said being was present, and he chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Uh yeah, sorry about those thoughts. Heat of the moment and anger-driven nonsense really."

The cloaked figure raised his right eyebrow, clearly not amused, or swayed, by Adonis's comment. "You mean those unflattering thoughts you were thinking about me just now?" The figure snorted. "Please. You're gonna have to explain for a great deal more than that to get me to change my mind about you right now."

Adonis raised his eyebrow, now clearly looking confused. "Wha . . . what do you mean?"

The cloaked figure's eyes narrowed. "Is it really that hard for you to understand Anderson?" He pointed his right sleeve at the now both confused and terrified miscreant, his red eyes burning with what appeared to be disgust. "Your performance the other night? Three words; less than impressive." The being folded his heavily sleeved arms across his chest. "And after all that, I sure as his Malevolence am not all that keen on spending large amounts of quality time with you, period, let alone as your superior."

Adonis found himself briefly lost for words yet again. "But . . . why did you come here to bust me out then?" The cloaked figure slumped forward, the motion clearly screaming 'are you for real?'. Upon sight of this, Adonis winced, mentally face palming in the process.

"Who said I was here to bust you out?" the cloaked figure asked.

Adonis mentally gulped. He thought desperately to himself, trying to think of something to say that wouldn't make him look like an idiot. And by God did he know how much of an idiot he already tended to look like to everyone else he knew, period. "Well," he began nervously. "Why else would you be here with me right now?"

"Is it not obvious?" The cloaked figure shook his cowled head side to side as if in disbelief at his former future recruit hopeful's stupidity. "You took the test I assigned, and now I am here to give you your grade." He leaned forward, his eyes open wide and burning once more. "You failed."

Adonis gulped, and hung his head. Granted, the words hadn't been entirely unexpected. But even so . . .

"And even if by some miracle you had managed to pass the test in spite of everything that happened that night," said the Master, "I'm sure that I would have likely still come to regret recruiting you at some point or other after the myriad unpleasant developments that unfolded over the course of your efforts to fulfill the task requested for your entry exam."

Adonis raised his eyebrow. "What do you mean?" he asked in confusion. "How on Earth would you know what happened over the course of all that . . ."

"Simple," the Master stated bluntly, and quite interrupting the miscreant's question. "Honestly Donald, did you really think that I wouldn't be somehow keeping an eye on you over the course of your entry exam? The number of people I have in my cause may be limited, but I am not _that_ limited in resources. I had another agent of mine out there in the forest keeping an eye on you; someone that I haven't even told either of my other two current underlings about yet. She was keeping watch over you the entire time. And thanks to some ingenious gadgetry of my own design that I had placed within the mask she was wearing, I was able to get a remote view of everything that happened over the course of your almost laughably bad efforts at fulfilling your entry exam, not to mention all of the very much unpleasant developments that unfolded over the course of said efforts."

For a brief moment, Adonis continued to remain confused. Then the full import of the words hit him, and his eyes widened in sheer dumbfounded shock. "You mean, you had an eye in the sky watching me the entire time?"

The Master raised his eyebrow. "Eye in the sky?" He chuckled. "Oh you have no idea."

Adonis narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean!?"

"That's need to know," the Master responded, practically spitting the words out in his newly returned anger. He folded his arms back across his chest. "And after your performance the other night, you've lost all chance of ever having the _right_ to know, let alone any _need_ to know."

Adonis just gaped at the Master. "But . . . why? What did I do wrong? Aside from fail, that is."

"Are you seriously asking me that?" The Master let out a humorless laugh. "Where? Do I? Begin?"

Adonis thought nervously to himself, too nervous now to even properly remember anything that he'd done two nights ago that would likely qualify as one of the 'unpleasant developments' the cloaked figure had mentioned. Either way, he knew that he was definitely screwed now.

"Never mind," said the Master. "I actually do know where to begin." He glared hard at Adonis, remaining silent until Adonis very clearly directed his full attention towards him. "For starters," the Master began. He started waving his arms up and down as if he were a bird flapping its wings. "You shook several trees to entice the sorceress into coming down from the sky."

Adonis raised his eyebrow in confusion. "What's so bad about that?"

"I remember quite clearly," the Master explained, "that over the course of our final discussion in my cave two nights ago before I sent you off to get ready while I met up with my other hopeful recruit, I explicitly told you to wait for the sorceress to land of her own free will. You were not supposed to lure her into landing for you, let alone in such an obvious fashion."

"She wasn't coming the way she was originally supposed to," Adonis stammered, trying desperately to defend himself. "There was no guarantee that she even would land freely on her own. . ."

"And if that had turned out to be the case," the Master interrupted, "then I would have been perfectly willing to allow for a chance to reschedule the plan." The cloaked figure shook his cowled head side to side in disapproval. "But no, instead of keeping good faith, you chose to try to seize control of the situation, and the plan itself, strictly into your own hands; and thus disobeyed a direct order." He opened his eyes. "And it was only the first time you'd end up doing so to."

Adonis's eyes widened. "First time?" he asked. "There were more?"

"Oh yes there were," the Master hissed spitefully. "And to elaborate, I will admit, you still could have perhaps been let off with a warning for that one little act of defiance if you'd had the sense to wait longer after the sorceress had landed before you threw the paralysis bomb I provided at her. In fact, the results of that effort were yet another reason as to why you should have waited for her to land of her own conscious decision rather than luring her into doing so. As a result of both having been lured into landing and how small an amount of time you waited afterwards before deploying the trap, you ended up triggering it while she was still keyed up and on guard, and thus more than capable of reacting in time to prevent her from being taken out in the way that was originally intended!" The Master snarled, and shook his head side to side once more. "And that wasn't the only moment of carelessness you demonstrated either."

"What do you mean . . .?"

"Do not interrupt," the Master snarled. "Next up on the list, your little battle with the sorceress that unfolded after your failed attempt at taking her out with the bomb." He folded his arms across his chest. "As I remember quite well, I specifically made sure to tell you that, in what _should_ have been a very unlikely event that the trap failed and you ended up having to do battle with the sorceress, you were supposed to stick strictly to using your physical combat skills, wait until such a moment in which it would seem that those would not be enough before even _considering_ using any of the upgrades I had installed into your armor, and in that event resort strictly to use of the cloaking technology and the smoke screen dispensers while only using any of the other upgrades strictly as a last resort, if at all."

"The sorceress had already informed me that the green wimp was in the forest with us!" Adonis yelled, still shakily trying to defend his actions. "I had to take her out quickly before he found me . . ."

"WRONG!" the Master roared. "With that knowledge, you should have been EXTRA cautious about how you handled the fight so as to avoid running the risk of attracting the changeling's attention and giving away your location! Did you do that? NO! Instead, you not only waited until your battle with the sorceress had barely even begun before you resorted to using your upgrades, but also used virtually _every single_ one of the upgrades that I'd made explicitly clear that you were not yet allowed to use and made a big, bright, loud, and flashy show out of the battle! And as a result, you not only alerted the changeling to your presence, but also advertised it even further by shining a giant, neon, spotlight on your exact location!" The Master vigorously shook his head side to side, growling angrily. "And to put it simply, that was the 2nd time you disobeyed a direct order from me."

Adonis gulped, briefly feeling lost for words. "Well," he eventually managed to say. "I did at least manage to take the sorceress out anyway, in the end. . ."

"Yes you did," said the Master bluntly. His eyes narrowed, "Using one of _two_ additional samples that you _stole_ from me."

"Well what's the matter with that?" Adonis stammered. "We're villains! We steal all the time. . ."

"Not from our allies!" the Master roared, his eyes now literally burning with hate. "Honestly! Even the Brotherhood of Evil understood that you almighty fool! I am trying to form an army of villains that contains at least a slight amount of trust amongst its members! How am I supposed to trust my future underlings when they steal from me right under my own nose?!"

"Well it was only reasonable for me to have a backup. . ."

"And indeed you did bring backup," the Master growled. "For a plan where, had you done it _correctly_ , you wouldn't have _needed_ a backup plan. But no, instead of trusting that my plan would work as it was, you chose to instead satisfy your own ego and attempt to undermine my authority before you even became an underling of mine! And even without that in mind, surely you noticed how one of the stolen samples was larger than the other! Why didn't you use _that_ one!?"

"I thought it would be excessive," Adonis began shakily.

"EXCESSIVE?!" the Master roared. "Even though you already knew that the effects of the drug wouldn't last nearly as long for either of those two samples as it would have for the sample that should have been applied to the sorceress, and also didn't even have an exact idea just how long or short an amount of time the effects would last with either of those two particular dosages?! Are you insane?!"

The Master started pacing furiously left and right across the area in front of Adonis, snarling and growling in rage. Eventually, right as Adonis was starting to try to muster up the courage to ask if the Master had anything else to say, the cloaked figure abruptly turned to face the miscreant. "But enough of that! Let's move on to the next unpleasant development that unfolded." He leaned forward, his eyes literally ablaze. "Care to explain why you left the sorceress's communicator where you left it?"

Adonis gulped in fear. "As opposed to what?" he asked nervously.

"Need you ask?" the Master hissed spitefully. "Oh I don't know. How about _DESTROYING IT_!?"

"The Titans would have gotten suspicious if they'd tried to track her and suddenly found themselves unable to detect her communicator's signal," Adonis said shakily in an effort to defend himself.

"But they had not yet had any _reason_ to start searching for her!" the Master shouted. "And even without destroying it, you could have at least _tried_ to do a better job at hiding it, or perhaps even placed it somewhere that would have allowed the Titans to be thrown off your trail! But did you do either of those three wise options? NO! Instead, in yet another demonstration of your carelessness, you just up and left it on the ground, intact and undamaged, and in the very center of the clearing where _any_ fool could have seen it! And as a direct result of that, when the changeling arrived at the clearing, it not only allowed even further confirmation of exactly where your trail began as a result of its position, but he was also able to use it to both sound the alarm for the other founding Titans, _and_ lead them right to you and the sorceress!"

The Master clenched his fists, lowered his head, and snarled apoplectically in rage. Adonis mentally gulped, now completely unsure of what to say for fear of just digging himself even deeper than he already was.

"And now for the next unpleasant development that unfolded over the course of your work the other night." The Master lifted his head to face Adonis in the eyes once more. "You had the sorceress in your clutches, you had already jeopardized your chances at success, and you were already aware of how you wouldn't have nearly as much time available as you would have if the initial plan had worked as intended. Yet you _still_ chose to procrastinate, goof around, and likewise waste your time! What is wrong with you?!"

"I needed to savor the moment," Adonis began.

"Savor the moment!?" the Master roared. "At a time like _that_?! Are you crazy?!" The Master reared his head up, then jerked it back downwards, sighing and growling in rage and irritation.

Adonis gulped. "Master," he said weakly and fearfully. "I'm sorry. . ."

"Oh wait," said the Master, lifting up his left arm as if sticking up one of his fingers so as to prove a point. "Here's my _favorite_ part." He looked the boy directly in the face once more. "Perhaps you might recall that little phone call I gave you the other night?"

Adonis blanched, and his heart plummeted as he himself remembered just what had gone down during that moment, particularly his less than respectful behavior. "Master please," he whimpered, "I can explain. . ."

"You knew perfectly well that the number I was using was reserved _exclusively_ for emergencies!" the Master roared. "And you knew perfectly well how unwise it would have been to dismiss my advice and blatantly rebel against me while trying to prove your worth as a member of my army! And things had already gone far south enough over the course of everything that had happened before that call! And what did you do?"

"Master. . ."

"SILENCE!" the Master thundered in fury. "Did you do the wise thing and evacuate like I told you to? NO! Instead, you dismissed my warnings as needless paranoid ravings, blatantly disrespected and insulted me to my _face_ , and ignored a _direct order_ from me for the 3rd time that night just so you could have your way with a girl!" The Master clenched his fists, and hunched downward once more, now quaking and snarling with fury. "And the real kicker?! That last act of defiance turned out to be all for nothing anyway! Because guess what!? That Beast inside you? The one that I'd offered to help you learn to control and tame if you proved yourself worthy? Turns out, it had the intelligence that you should have had, sensed the green one coming long before you would have _ever_ dreamed of being able to sense him coming, seized control, and only proved you wrong in every way, shape, and form in the events that happened afterward! And where have you ended up as a result of all that?!" The Master snapped his arms out to his sides as if to indicate the entirety of the room he and Adonis were in. "RIGHT HERE! IN JAIL!"

For what seemed like an eternity, the Master heaved angrily, his entire cloaked body shaking, and his eyes still literally blazing with fury. Adonis gulped, and hung his head in shame, completely lost for words. The Master snarled one more time, then narrowed his fiery eyes and glared hatefully at the miscreant. "I already knew that not every villain I set my sights on attempting to recruit would make the cut," the Master hissed. His eyes narrowed again. "But even _I_ never would have guessed just how utterly horrible, pathetic, and almost laughably unworthy of being a member of my cause you'd turn out to be." The Master snarled. "And I have never, and I mean _never_ , been more _disgusted_ with myself for even _considering_ you worth even giving a chance."

"Master please," Adonis whimpered. "I'm sorry! Really I am! Just give me another chance! Please! I'll make up for this! I'll do it right next time! I swear!"

"NO!" the Master roared. He pointed his right arm at the miscreant in an almost accusatory fashion. "YOU HAD ONE SHOT! ONE SHOT ONLY! AND YOU BLEW IT! YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO WORK ALONGSIDE ME, HIS MALEVOLENCE, OR ANY OTHER VILLAINS IN THIS WORLD, OR EVEN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE! THERE MAY BE PLENTY OF AVERAGE JOE SUPERVILLAINS OUT THERE LIKE YOU SAID, BUT YOU HAVE MADE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE OTHER AMATEUR SUPERVILLAINS LOOK LIKE GRAND MASTERS! YOU'VE MADE THE MOST PATHETIC COMMON CRIMINALS LOOK LIKE PROS! YOU'VE MADE THE MOST HARMLESS OF VILLAINS AND CRIMINALS LOOK LIKE LEGITIMATE THREATS! AND ALL IN ONE NIGHT, AND IN A WAY SO LAUGHABLY BAD THAT IT SHOULDN'T HAVE EVEN BEEN POSSIBLE!"

The Master shook his head side to side and growled yet again. When he finally calmed down once more, he soon revealed himself to have yet more to say. "The only reason I even bothered to give you the opportunity to prove your worth was because I truly believed that you actually had the potential to be a legitimate and properly dangerous villain in spite of your past extensive history of failure." He hung his head, sighing in a mixture of tiredness and regret. "Never have I been more embarrassed to admit that I was wrong." He looked back up at Adonis. "And since you clearly don't have what it takes to be a worthy member of my cause, you can go ahead and rot in jail where you belong. Clearly, jail is the absolute place you could possibly be, in regard to both yourself _and_ everyone else."

The Master turned around to face the door, his back facing Adonis. "Your life won't be worth spit," the cloaked figure hissed. He turned his cowled head to face the miscreant once more, his red eyes smoldering with disgust. "And don't even think that I'm being any more merciful to you right now then the Titans or anyone else is being, or will be, towards you." He nodded his head. "Believe me, you may not be going to his Malevolence's realm today, and you certainly won't be going there any time this month, or maybe even this year if you're lucky." The Master turned his head to face the doorway to the compartment once more. "But believe me, after just one hour of what's in store for you during your stay at Belle Reve, you're going to _wish_ that you were dead."

The Master lifted his right arm and swung it left and right once. A portal of shadows materialized from thin air directly in front of the cloaked figure. He turned his head to face Adonis one last time. "Farewell Donald Anderson," said the Master. "It was a great displeasure to know you. I regret ever so much as sparing a single thought towards you. And the next time I ever see you directly in person, I hope by his Malevolence that it will be within one of the worst segments of his Malevolence's realm." The Master walked into the vortex, melting away into the shadows that it consisted of in the process. Mere seconds after the Master faded away into the portal, the shadowy vortex dissipated into thin air, leaving Adonis all alone in his transport compartment once again.

For what seemed like an eternity, Adonis remained seated where he was, too stunned, guilt ridden, and ashamed to even think properly, let alone speak or do anything. Eventually, after an amount of time that Adonis now frankly didn't care about the exact length of, the miscreant heard the sound of an electronic beep indicating that the door to his transport compartment was opening. He directed his full attention to the door just in time to see it open to reveal none other than one of the Belle Reve guards he'd seen talking to the members of his JCPD transport unit standing right there. "You're in luck today kid," said the guard. "Your cell's finally ready, and its high time we got you properly settled into your new home away from home. After all, from what I hear, you'll be staying with us for a _long_ time."

. . . . .

Adonis glowered as he stood in front of the now once again closed and locked door of his brand new cell. Aside from a bunkbed that appeared to be designed as an extension of one of the walls, the cell hardly looked all that memorable. Of course, as Adonis knew quite well from previous stays in prison, the cells were rarely ever the parts that the inmates tended to remember the most about their time in jail. He snarled, grumbling irritably to himself as he once again felt his earlier bad mood from before his talk with his former hopeful future master return. "No fair," he thought to himself. "No fair, at all."

He looked over at the small barred window on the wall in front of him, his eyes narrowing angrily. "And to think that the Titans actually had the _gall_ to send me here, and especially after they'd already made my life unpleasant enough with their interrogation." He gritted his teeth in a silent snarl, his eyes narrowing again as he remembered the entire unpleasant ordeal in the Titans Tower interrogation chamber. In particular, he could remember Beast Boy practically hovering over him in Komodo dragon form, as well as the devastating spell that Raven had slammed him with.

Adonis raised his eyebrow, thinking to himself. "Could that spell perhaps have not fully been what she said. . .?" Then his eyes narrowed once more, and he shook his head side to side, growling in a mixture of rage and irritation. " _No_ ," he growled to himself under his breath. "I _felt_ that particular cluster of hate and rage strengthen in direct response to what that witch was saying and how she was behaving. That spell? It was exactly what she said it was, no lies at all, 100% correct, true, and exactly as advertised."

Adonis turned his head to face the cell door behind him, glowering still. "And now here I am in Belle Reve while they get to go gallivanting around ruining the days and lives of even more criminal shmucks like me." His eyes narrowed. "And it's. Not. Fair." He clenched his right fist, and turned his head to glower at the window once more. "Well to Hell with them," he thought to himself spitefully. "They may have won this last battle, but by God they have not won the war. One way or another, I will get out of this oh so special prison someday." He narrowed his eyes once more, but this time in concentration on the plan that he was even now already rapidly forming up in his mind. "And when I do get out of this dump, I will return to Jump City, even if I have to crawl all the way there on my hands and knees. Yes, that's what I'll do." He looked back up at the window. "And once I've made it back to Jump City, I'm gonna get myself a brand new set of workout gear."

And he indeed had every intention of making good on this plan to build a new suit of armor. "I may not be the brightest bulb in the world," he thought to himself. "But I at least know my way around anything related to mechanics and similar subjects. Besides, I managed to successfully design one suit of armor that actually worked. I can definitely design another one; possibly even one that's even better than the original." He let a small smug grin come on his face. "Heck, maybe with a little help, I'll even be able to install all those upgrades that Mr. Bigshot Black Cloak had installed within my original armor before its destruction. I would certainly enjoy getting the chance to use toys like that again, especially considering how many more were available for use amongst the roster that I never got the chance to try out."

He looked over towards the right wall of his cell, even now continuing to plot. "And once I've got my new armor ready and I'm likewise all set, I'm gonna take the fight to those bigshot children that call themselves heroes," he thought to himself. "And by God I'm going to give them a beat down that will make them _wish_ that they'd never messed with me at all." His eyes narrowed in distaste. "I'll recolor that high and mighty traffic light black and blue. I'll crush that brainless alien under my foot like an egg. I'll dismantle that ungodly robot until he's nothing but a lifeless heap of scrap metal." He gritted his teeth in yet another silent snarl. "I'll make that green wimp pay. I'll send him whimpering and scampering off into the hills with his tail between his legs. I'll make him wish he'd never been born." He straightened up, his face now set in a hard eyed look of determination. "And I _will_ have my way with that witch. Sure, she was telling the truth all along about how she felt about me, and perhaps just maybe I never truly did like her that way at all." His eyes narrowed. "But by God, I'm still gonna have my way with her anyway. Not out of love, desire, or a sense of wish fulfilment. No way. I'm gonna do it for spite, for revenge, for justice." He turned his head to face the cell wall to his right once more, face now set into an angry glare once more. "But first," he thought to himself. "Somehow or other, I am _going_ to get out of this stinking prison." With an inarticulate scream of rage, he drew his right fist back and punched the wall to his right, leaving a surprisingly quite respectably sized impact crater upon the area where his fist had struck.

"Hey!" yelled a guard that clearly must have been sitting somewhere outside the cell. "Quiet down in there! Some of the other prisoners are trying to nap here!"

Adonis turned around to face the cell door once again. "Screw yourself!" he yelled.

Outside the cell, the guard, who was in fact sitting on a bench located about a foot or two next to the door, lowered his newspaper once more and turned his head in the direction of the cell containing the inmate he'd just now yelled at, a less then pleased look on his face. "Screw _yourself_ dirt bag!"

"Oh yeah?" Adonis barked out, clearly not at all keen on backing down. "Why don't you go to Hell for a while?"

The guard narrowed his eyes, and slowly reached down for his nightstick. "Afraid you're already there yourself pal."

"Why don't you prove it you asshole?" Adonis asked cockily.

The guard grabbed onto his nightstick, tensing up as if preparing to stand up from the bench and go into the cell to beat the unruly inmate black and blue. "Boy," he growled. "Don't make me come in there! Hell, considering how I could just as easily arrange for you to receive a personal visit from the Wall herself, the things I could do to you right now would be far more merciful in comparison."

"Yeah well, screw that," Adonis growled. He walked up to his cell door, grabbed onto the bars, and pressed his head up against the space between the two center-most bars. "I want my lawyer!"

"Don't bother."

Adonis's eyes widened at the sound of the unexpected voice. In fact, he was doubly surprised by the sound considering the fact that it had come from _behind_ him. Heart in his mouth, he turned his head to look behind him just in time to see a furry human-like hand with five razor sharp claws for fingernails extend out from the area where the bottom bunk of the cell's bunkbed was located and clasp onto the wall extension that had until now completely prevented Adonis from being at all aware of how he apparently wasn't alone in the cell. The hand clenched around the wall extension, its claws digging deep, making it seem much like what a stereotypical monster would do in all the movies in similar circumstances.

"Lawyers aren't worth a damn in Belle Reve," said the voice from the bottom bunk of the bed, clearly belonging to whatever the furry, clawed, and otherwise entirely human-like hand was attached to. The being clenched its grip tighter, and leaned forward just enough to allow its head to come into view. Adonis blanched, his eyes widening in horror at the sight of the very, very goat-like head that had just now extended into view from the space between the two beds. He had not at all been aware that he'd even had a cellmate, let alone that he was going to be sharing living space with such a horrendously ugly monster as the creature that had now revealed itself to him.

The creature turned its head to directly face its stunned cellmate, allowing Adonis to get quite an eyeful of its face in all its furry, horned, yellow eyed, and saber-toothed glory. In fact, Adonis actually found himself even more terrified at how he'd only just now noticed this last very glaringly obvious detail. The creature smiled, a gleaming predatory grin consisting entirely of obviously razor sharp fangs that, combined with the creature's now almost psychotically happily gleaming yellow eyes, made Adonis feel very unnerved and sick to his stomach.

The creature chuckled, its grin not once leaving its face. "So you're my new cellmate I heard everyone talking about yesterday." Adonis said nothing. In fact, he scarcely dared breath.

The monster chuckled again, and stepped forward off of the bed, revealing himself to be dressed in an orange jumpsuit just like Adonis, and that he had an identical looking inhibitor collar around his neck, but with three glowing lights on the side instead of just one. However, the detail that Adonis was paying the most attention to was his cellmate's very craggy and obviously hoof-like feet. The creature intertwined its fingers, stretched its arms up into the air, and sighed in content. It looked over at Adonis, smug grin still on its face. "I dare say it's high time you finally got here. I've really been looking forward to introducing myself." He extended his right hand towards Adonis as if expecting the still clearly nervous Adonis to walk on over and shake it. "Name's Capricarn."

Adonis gulped, and looked his cellmate right in its unnerving yellow eyes, but otherwise did not respond, let alone move a muscle.

Capricarn chuckled, shaking his head side to side and _still_ grinning. "Come now," said the satyr-like criminal. "Is that a proper way to behave around new acquaintances? Especially when they're trying to introduce themselves?" He leaned forward. "Come on," said the satyr-like monster. "I've told you my name. Tell me yours." Adonis said nothing, and shook his head side to side.

Capricarn made a fake pout. "You're no fun." Then his grin returned, and he chuckled once more. "Oh well, I guess it's not too bad that you're too shy to talk right now. After all, with how long you're apparently going to be staying here with me, we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other."

Adonis chuckled nervously, and started slowly walking away from the cell door and towards the ladder leading up to the top bunk, keeping his eyes on Capricarn the entire time. "Oh yeah, flattering," Adonis managed to say in spite of his current mental turmoil that was being induced by his strong level of panic. "But uh, perhaps maybe we could uh, you know, just acknowledge each other's existence, treat each other with respect, keep to ourselves, and avoid interacting with each other to much instead?"

Capricarn laughed, a hearty, gravelly, bleating sound that left Adonis even more terrified then the smug chuckling from before. "Good one," said the satyr-like criminal. He directed his smug grin back at the human. "Sorry, but I'm afraid you don't really have a choice in the matter. The Wall seemed especially keen on us interacting, and doing it quite often to."

Adonis glowered at Capricarn, his eyes narrowed in irritation. "Who the heck is this 'Wall' person?" Adonis spat. "And why the Devil is she so important around here?"

"You're joking," said Capricarn. "Seriously, you're in Belle Reve, and you don't even know who _the Wall_ is?"

Adonis just stared at Capricarn, and the satyr-like monster burst out laughing again. "I can't believe this!" said Capricarn, now smacking his fist against his chest in an effort to get himself to stop laughing. "I mean; I already knew from what she told me that you were an idiot! But I _never_ would have guessed that you'd be _this_ stupid!"

"What are you talking about?!" said Adonis, now getting irritated at being still left hanging and out of the loop. "Who the fudge is this 'Wall' person?"

"Not 'wall person'," said Capricarn. "The Wall." He grinned again. "Does the name Amanda Waller ring any bells?"

Adonis raised his eyebrow in confusion. Capricarn's grin widened as he waited for the boy's mental gears to turn. Sure enough, Adonis suddenly blanched, his eyes widened in horror as he finally connected the dots. "No," he said. "It can't be."

Capricarn started laughing again, and this time in a more sinister way as opposed to out of genuinely finding humor in something. "Oh I kid you not buddy! The legendary Amanda Waller herself! That's our warden!" Capricarn stopped laughing, grinning again. "And thanks to a little conversation she had on the phone with the Bird Boy from all the way back in Jump City yesterday, plus a good bit of string pulling and similar behind the scenes work on her part after that, you and I have quite the interesting setup arranged for us."

Adonis's heart sank. He had no idea what this setup Capricarn had now mentioned was. But knowing the reputation of Amanda Waller, not to mention of Belle Reve itself now that he remembered the detail of her being its warden, plus the very unnerving nature of his cellmate, he had a bad feeling it would not be pleasant for him.

Capricarn chuckled. "You see," the satyr-like villain began. "I hear that you have some sort of . . . uh . . . emotional problem." Adonis cringed, his face clearly showing a wince and silently screaming 'this is gonna suck'. "And with that in mind," Capricarn continued. He grinned. "Well, emotions? They're kinda my thing you know?" He chuckled. "No, of course you wouldn't know that before now. We've only just met." He chuckled again, and Adonis gulped, his heart sinking further and further as he felt his panic continue to rapidly rise.

Capricarn noticed how increasingly nervous Adonis was still looking, and raised his eyebrow. Then he shook his head, and his face took on a clear 'down to business' type of look. "The point is," Capricarn continued, "I know a thing or two about emotions." He let his earlier smug toothy grin return to his face. "And word from the Wall is, apparently, as per request from our mutual old friend the Titans, and all the hard work our dear warden did to make its fulfillment possible, apparently I'm supposed to be treating you to a rather unique form of . . . uh . . . therapy." The satyr-like villain chuckled again.

Adonis gulped. Maybe it was something about the way that Capricarn had said that last word. Or maybe it was his less than pleasant past experiences with therapists. But regardless, he had a bad feeling that he was not going to like whatever it was that was apparently now in store for him. Trying his best to keep a straight face and prevent himself from showing any more signs of his fear then he already had, he managed to force out, "What do you mean?"

Capricarn chuckled once more. "Oh you'll see." He looked over towards the door to the cell. "Guard!"

"Yes?"

"When's feeding time?" Capricarn asked.

"Glad you asked," said the guard. "It's now." Mere seconds after the guard said this, a large metal barrier suddenly descended from out of nowhere and slammed down into place directly in front of the door on the side where Capricarn and Adonis were positioned.

At the sound of the slamming barrier, Adonis's eyes widened, and he turned his head towards the now quite blocked off cell door. His eyes widened further as he noticed and realized how the only naturally available entrance and exit for the cell had now been rendered unavailable to him. He dashed over to the barrier and started pounding on it frantically. "Hey!" he shouted in panic. "What are you doing!? Open up! Let me out of here!"

Capricarn started laughing again, and Adonis turned his head in fear. "Hate to break it to you buddy," said Capricarn. "But this is Belle Reve. There ain't no getting out." He lifted his right hand, wiggling his clawed fingers back and forth ominously. "The Wall told me herself, this jail's walls are thick enough to hold _Superman_. They'd know. They've checked." He interlocked his fingers and stretched his hands forward, grinning in anticipation. "And boy are we going to have plenty of fun."

Adonis gulped, and pressed his back up against the barrier blocking the cell door in a desperate effort to back himself further away from his clearly very dangerous cellmate. "What are you going to do?" he asked fearfully.

"Any minute now," said Capricarn, reaching up to his inhibitor collar with his left hand. Seconds later, before the satyr-like villain's hand even touched the collar, one of the three tiny glowing lights on it turned off. Capricarn's grin widened. "Finally," he said. "Now the fun can begin."

Adonis tensed up warily, now very worried about just what Capricarn would do. Capricarn took a deep breath, inhaling strictly through his nose, and Adonis found his eyes widening as he saw what appeared to be a trail of golden dust start to trickle out through his chest and hover through the air straight into his cellmate's nostrils. Capricarn opened his mouth, exhaling in clear joy, his yellow eyes wide open and gleaming brightly with happiness. "Ah yes," said the romantivore. "Tasty." He licked his lips hungrily as if very much wanting more. "I will admit, I'm not entirely certain myself just what to call that emotion I've just had a taste of that you feel for that Titan witch, but whatever it is," he took a deep breath, and then sighed in content, "I'm liking it already." He licked his lips again. Then he grinned at Adonis once more.

The formerly armored miscreant blanched, and pressed himself against the barrier even more, trying desperately to somehow put more space between him and Capricarn. The satyr-like villain chuckled, clearly amused at his cellmate's clear distress. "Hope you're ready," said Capricarn. He chuckled. "Because the doctor is in." No sooner had Capricarn said this, when his grin widened, his eyes flashed with deranged joy, and he started slowly letting out his distinctive bleating laugh once more. As he did so, he bent over, and then slowly straightened back up, lifting his arms and hands up in the air as if to celebrate an apparent upcoming triumph. And the entire time this was happening, the golden dust emanating from Adonis continued to trickle out of the terrified boy and get absorbed into Capricarn's laughing mouth.

As this happened, Adonis decided that he'd had enough, and he turned around so that he was directly facing the barrier before then starting to bang on it with his fists. "Help! Help!" he screamed. "Let me out of here!" Capricarn continued laughing behind him, and Adonis started pounding on the barrier even harder, clearly getting even more distressed and panicked. "Somebody help me!" he screamed, gradually increasing the strength and intensity at which he was banging on the barrier. "Guards! Guards! Guards!" Throughout the entire time Adonis was banging on the door, not once was he aware that Capricarn, still laughing, was now slowly, yet nonetheless ominously, walking towards him from behind.

Eventually, when Adonis very belatedly managed to notice the golden dust emanating from him start to intensify and hasten in the amount of speed at which it was pouring from him towards Capricarn, the boy turned his head, only for his eyes to widen at the sight of the satyr-like criminal getting disturbingly close to his position. Gasping in terror, the human boy turned his full body around and pressed his back against the barrier once again, eyes widened in fear and despair. "No," he whimpered. Capricarn only continued laughing and advancing towards his terrified cellmate. "No," Adonis whimpered again. Capricarn's laughing intensified, and he took another few steps. "No!" Adonis yelled. In that moment, the still laughing Capricarn took another three steps towards Adonis, his hands now outstretched towards the boy as if about to grab him by the wrists and pin him up against the barrier. He now needed only to take one single step more and he'd be in the ideal position to carry out his 'feeding' the way he now currently deemed appropriate. Seconds later, outside the cell, the air was very emphatically flooded with the sound of Adonis's terrified howling shrieks and screams of despair and horror mixed with Capricarn's hilarious, yet at the same time ominous, sounding distinctive bleating laugh.

 **And just like that, another chapter done! And boy did I** ** _LOVE_** **writing this one! I'm especially hoping that you enjoyed reading this chapter and are satisfied with what turned out to be Adonis's ultimate fate in this story (shudders). And that being said, I'm especially hoping you enjoyed seeing Capricarn again! I feel quite proud of myself for creating this character and I hope you were happy to see him make one final appearance before this story ended! ^_^ Also, any comments on just what the Master had to say to Adonis? Particularly about what all the apparent 'unpleasant developments' turned out to be? Feel free to answer! And by the way, you'd best make a note of what the Master said about that one mystery agent of his after Adonis made those comments about her being the Master's 'eye in the sky'. Look at it the right way, and with the right DC knowledge, and you've got yourself a major hint as to just who she could very well turn out to be. Remember, I require a minimum of** ** _1_** **review in order to post the epilogue (though I'll certainly understand if there are some among you who'd prefer to wait an especially long time before posting any reviews for this chapter so as to prolong the end of this story). Anyway, again, here's to hoping you read, enjoyed, and leave reviews for this chapter! ^_^**

 **Coming up next: The Master has flown the coop yet again. But even in spite of the Titans' second failure at catching him, things still get slightly ok as loose ends are tied up in regards to 'Todd' and the matter of things between our favorite chromatically challenged duo reach a temporary resolution. And soon after that, the Master manages yet to leave Jump City with a new recruit to join his ranks, but not necessarily in a way that said recruit would have wanted. Sound exciting? I certainly hope so! ^_^**


	19. Epilogue

**Alright everybody! Here you go! The grand finale for Shadows of Love! And in this final chapter, loose ends are tied up with 'Todd', a temporary resolution is reached between our favorite chromatically challenged pair, and the Master (having Houdini-ed his way out of the Titans reach yet again) manages to salvage his otherwise horribly failed first efforts at renewing his work with a brand new underling . . . albeit, an unwilling one. That in mind, here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy!**

 **A/N: For the last time, at least for this story, I do not own Teen Titans. And now, onward with the fic.**

 **Epilogue:**

Meanwhile, back in Jump City, Raven was calmly waiting near the entrance to her favorite bookstore. Usually, she'd be visiting the bookstore for the sake of adding to her already sizeable collection of books. This time, however, she was at the bookstore for reasons more for business then for pleasure.

Considering the current circumstances at the Tower, she would probably have gone to the bookstore anyway even if she hadn't had the current business she had to attend to. The previous day, immediately after Adonis had been safely transferred over into the custody of A JCPD transport unit that had been arranged to deliver him to Belle Reve, the founding Titans had made a beeline for the exact location that the miscreant had said was the location where his hopeful future boss had set up shop. Unfortunately, upon arrival, it had taken all of three minutes exploring the very glaringly empty cave they'd found for them to realize that the mysterious Master had managed to slip from their reach yet again. To put it simply, Robin hadn't taken that well.

Therefore, at the current moment, while Robin was keeping himself holed up in his room to stew away and wait for his temper to calm down and blow over, all the other Titans were all hard at work with their own things. And on that note, Raven was starting to wonder what was taking so long for the person she was currently planning to meet up with outside the bookstore to arrive. "Where is he?" she thought to herself.

"Sorry I'm late."

Raven turned around in time to see none other than Todd come walking over from across the street. The boy looked mildly annoyed. Raven waited patiently for her goth acquaintance to reach the same area as her. The goth boy shook his head side to side vigorously as if irritated. "My dumb jerk supervisor forgot that I had off today, and it took me nearly an hour to convince him and remind him of that information." He looked over at Raven. "But nonetheless, I'm here now, and I'm sorry I'm late."

Raven nodded. "I understand." She sighed. "As I'm sure you may have guessed, there's something we need to talk about."

Todd thought to himself, and then nodded. "I'm listening."

Raven took a deep breath, exhaling calmly. She directed her purple eyes at the goy boy, her face cold and serious. "Two nights ago," she began. "That offer you made for me to go for a walk in the woods with you as a companion? Turns out, you were going to lead me into a trap."

Todd mentally winced, but let no outward sign show. "A trap you say?"

"Yes, a trap." Raven folded her arms across her chest. "A villain named Adonis, who also happens to be a very abhorrent admirer of mine, was lying in wait for me in the forest last night. He had very despicable plans for me, and apparently, he was expecting you to lead me right to him."

The goth boy thought to himself, and then nodded his head. "Might as well be somewhat honest with her," he thought to himself. He looked over at the sorceress. "I see," he said. He took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Well, to be honest," he began. "I didn't actually meet this Adonis person. However, one other guy I did manage to talk to the day before that other day did say that there was . . . a friend of yours, I think that's what he said . . . that wanted to meet up with you in the forest on Valentine's Day night." He hung his head. "I will admit though, if I'd known the truth about this supposed 'friend' or what he'd in fact had planned for you, then I'd probably have been much less likely to trust that other guy that quickly."

From a technical metaphorically perspective, Todd was telling the truth. He had indeed not known the full extent of what Adonis had been planning, and had indeed never once interacted with him over the course of the past few days. Raven's own eyes narrowed, for while her empathic radar could sense that Todd was indeed speaking the truth, she wasn't entirely certain that she could completely trust him.

"This other guy you talked to," she said. "Who was he?"

"Can't really say for sure," Todd admitted. "He didn't give me a name. And I can't say much about what he looked like. His eyes were the only things I could see thanks to a big heavy black cloak he was wearing."

"Black cloak huh?" said Raven. "Let me guess. Red eyes?"

"Yeah," said Todd, genuinely surprised. "How did you know?"

"My friends and I," Raven explained, clearly referring to the other Titans, "have reason to believe that this figure is potentially a wanted criminal." She pointed her finger at Todd. "That description you just gave about that cloaked figure? Adonis gave the exact same description about him. And it also matches a description given to us last summer by a fellow hero named Geo-Force who ended up being placed under mind control and forced to do acts of villainy by a figure of very similar description." She folded her arms across her chest once more. "Granted, none of the Titans have ever actually encountered this man in person before. And aside from Geo-Force, so far, apparently neither have any other heroes in the world. But the fact that you were apparently interacting on friendly terms with a potential wanted criminal does not look good for you."

Todd nodded in reluctant agreement. "No it does not," he admitted.

"Care to explain why you were interacting with this man?" Raven asked.

"I'm perfectly fine with that," said Todd. He nodded his head, and sighed in resignation. "You see," he began. "I'm not exactly in the best circumstances when it comes to money. I'm still 17 right now, my job doesn't pay that much, and I'm just barely getting by. Also, I'm trying to save up my resources to get some stuff I need." He nodded his head. "I happened to encounter this cloaked figure, and while I didn't trust him at first, he proved quite perceptive of my current circumstances. And over time, I don't know how, but I just let down my walls." As he talked, he found himself continuing to speak mostly the truth, but still omit a couple details or so.

"I see," said Raven. "And let me guess, he promised to provide you with the stuff you needed?"

"Correct."

"And let me guess, in exchange for that stuff, you were supposed to lead me into the forest for him so that Adonis could take me out."

"Well he didn't entirely use those exact words," said Todd. "But otherwise, yes. You've hit the nail right on the head."

Raven took a deep breath, exhaled, and then nodded her head. Her empathic senses, and the partial lie detecting abilities that came with them, were currently still hinting at Todd being somewhat trustworthy. She faced him once more. "And I believe you also were requested to work for him?"

Todd's eyes widened. "Work for him?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

Raven's eyebrow rose. "Well, on Valentine's Day night, we captured Adonis and brought him to the Tower. And we interrogated him yesterday morning. . ."

"You're allowed to do all that?"

"Depending on the circumstances, yes. And the amount of time we're allowed to keep any such villains in our custody before handing them over to the authorities varies."

Raven shook her head side to side. "Look, the point is, during the interrogation, we learned that the same cloaked figure you talked to was hoping to recruit Adonis into some army of supervillains he's trying to form. Adonis's efforts at carrying out those plans he had for me on Valentine's Day night were also apparently part of a unique test of worth that the cloaked figure was subjecting Adonis to. And apparently, Adonis, and perhaps even the cloaked figure himself, were under the impression that you were deemed a potentially worthy recruit as well."

Todd, eyes still wide open in shock, gulped. "I see," he managed to say. He looked off to the side, seemingly at nothing, parts of his mind still numb from the shock of the unexpected information. And considering how much he'd been trained over the course of his life, both before and after his first death, to keep his emotions hidden and in check, the fact that he was now very clearly and genuinely showing how shocked he was by the unexpected information he'd just learned spoke volumes of just how stunned he now was. Raven herself also detected this through her empathic radar, and thus sealed the deal that Todd seemingly actually could perhaps be trustworthy after all, at least for now.

"You didn't know about that?" Raven asked.

The goth boy shook his head side to side. "He never said anything about that kind of thing," he responded. And indeed, he remembered quite clearly that the cloaked figure had never once mentioned the possibility of recruiting him for anything. "What else has he hidden from me?" he thought to himself.

"You don't know of any reason why he might have wanted to recruit you?" Raven asked. At this point, the question was more of a formality than anything else now that she knew that Todd apparently hadn't even known that the Master wanted to recruit him for his supervillain army. But even so, she had to make sure.

Todd shook his head. "No idea," he responded. He looked off to the side. "Though now that I know what you just told me, I have a feeling I'd really better do some digging."

"Do you want us to help you?" Raven asked.

Todd shook his head. "No," he responded. "Granted, I appreciate the concern and willingness to help. But right now, I think it would be best that I take care of this on my own."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Depending on the circumstances, it may very well be a wiser idea, at least for the moment." Todd looked over at Raven. "We don't know for certain just how much this cloaked figure knows regarding how much you and your teammates know about his plans. But if he doesn't yet know that you've figured out his apparent plans for me, then if he catches me with you, or any of the other Titans, that could tip him off." He closed his eyes, and nodded his head up and down. "I appreciate the concern," said the goth boy. "But until I think it otherwise necessary, I think it's best that for now I pursue this little quest on my own."

Raven thought to herself. "If you say so."

"Thanks," said the goth boy. He smiled. "And hey, I'm not completely defenseless if things head south. I've managed to pick up a trick or two from the life I live. And besides," he indicated his cellphone. "I could always send you and the other Titans a distress signal."

Raven raised her eyebrow. "That's really not something you should joke about."

"I know," said Todd. "But seriously, I'll be ok. I should be anyway."

"Let's hope so," said Raven.

"Indeed." Todd thought to himself. "You know, now that I think about it," said the goth boy. He directed a curious look towards Raven. "Why _did_ you end up going to the forest Valentine's Day night anyway without me?"

Raven took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Yeah, I was going to talk about that as well."

"I'm all ears," said Todd.

Raven took another deep breath, exhaling in a resigned sigh. "Remember that secret admirer I mentioned that I was supposed to meet up with the night before Valentine's Day?"

"Yes," said Todd.

Raven sighed. "Apparently," she began. "He did manage to show."

Todd's eyes widened. "He did?" he asked, half in surprise and half in genuine happiness.

Raven nodded her head.

"Well, where was he?" Todd asked. "How come we didn't see him?"

Raven sighed, and then looked up at the goth boy. "He showed up just far enough outside the rendezvous point to see me talking with you."

For a moment, the goth boy stared uncomprehendingly, then he put two and two together. "Oh," he said. He winced. "I'm starting to see where this is going."

Raven nodded her head. "Yes. Upon sight of us, he was overwhelmed by the initial shock of catching sight of the two of us together at the rendezvous point. So overwhelmed, in fact," she hung her head. "That he didn't even bother to stick around long enough to actually hear what we were talking about or likewise get the full picture."

"I see," said Todd.

"And as it turns out, my secret admirer turned out to be the very teammate that I was going to the zoo with on Valentine's Day."

"Oh," said Todd, looking over to the side awkwardly. "Ok, I'll admit, that probably screwed things up a little."

"Well not over the course of the trip itself no," said Raven. "But later that evening, he ended up finally unbottling his feelings on the matter in a very dangerous and horrifying fashion."

"Let me guess," said Todd. "The Beast?"

"Yes," said Raven. "I see you're among the mass number of the Jump City populace that is aware of the Beast."

"That is correct," Todd confirmed.

"So it is," said Raven. "Well anyway, after having a huge temper tantrum in the Tower, he went off into the forest to let out the rest of his rage, and I volunteered to go off to find him and make sure he'd be ok, and to help calm him down if he was still in the form of the Beast when I found him. Needless to say, I ended up going right into Adonis's trap as a result."

"I see," said Todd. He nodded his head up and down in sympathy. "For that, I apologize."

"Thank you," said Raven. She nodded her head. "And that brings me to one other thing."

"I'm all ears," said the goth boy.

Raven took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Right now," the sorceress began. "Until me and my secret admirer get the chance to completely settle things between us and fully come to understand the exact nature of our relationship, or at least to some extent or other allow all that's currently happened to smooth out, it might be best that you and I don't spend all that much time interacting together."

"I see," said Todd.

"Look Todd," said Raven. "It's nothing against you. Honest it isn't. It's just that. . ."

"Hey, no need to worry about that, I understand." Todd nodded his head. "I'm ok with being sidelined for now. I mean hey, I already unwittingly screwed things up between you and your potential new boyfriend badly enough the other night. The last thing I need to do is to further muddy things up." He stared straight at Raven, an understanding smile on his face. "Trust me, I'm willing to wait for you and the changeling to work things out. Chances to do stuff with friends come up often. But finding love with someone, not to mention finding that one special person?" He nodded his head up and down. "That chance doesn't come very often. And when it does, you really should take it." He looked on over to the side, then back at the sorceress. "I guess this is goodbye then?"

Raven thought to herself, and then nodded her head. "Yes," she responded. "For now." She looked back at her apparent civilian goth boy acquaintance. "I'll see you around again some time or other in the future."

"I'll be waiting," said Todd. He smiled. "And if things do work out between you and that secret admirer of yours, feel free to tell me about it. I could probably use a tip or two from you in that event."

Raven thought to herself, and then nodded. "Goodbye Todd."

"Goodbye," said the goth boy.

The two dark individuals gave each other a companionable handshake. Then Raven nodded her head in a final farewell gesture and took to the sky. The goth boy waited for Raven to fully depart his sight and hearing range. Then he sighed. "I hope things do work out for her," he whispered out loud to himself. He turned around and started walking down the sidewalk in the direction of what would inevitably lead to his makeshift headquarters. "And as for me," he thought to himself. "I've got work to do."

. . . . .

Raven came to a smooth and quiet landing on the shore outside the Tower. She took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Well," she thought to herself. "There's one loose end tied up." She looked directly ahead towards the front door of the Titans' headquarters. "Now it's time to prepare for dealing with another."

"Hey Rae."

Raven's eyes widened, and she turned her head to her left. Sure enough, Beast Boy was sitting down a good couple feet away, staring towards the ocean, but with his eyes slightly directed towards his left at her. "Beast Boy," Raven managed to say, still too surprised at having unexpectedly seen him in his current position to comment on his use of the irritating, yet still now gradually becoming endearing, pet name. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here remember?"

Raven sighed, and shook her head with her eyes closed. "Really Beast Boy," she said. "Why are you here?"

"Honestly," said Beast Boy. "I'm not entirely certain myself." He looked over at the Tower. "Right now, Robin's still hasn't come back out of his room since breakfast this morning, Star's keeping herself occupied with Silkie while waiting for a time that either fearless leader leaves his room on his own or she deems herself to have waited long enough for it to be safe for her to enter there to convince him, and Cyborg's busy doing work on the T-Car." He looked out in the direction of the city. "Everyone else is likewise preoccupied. The Titans North guys are still out searching through the forest to see if they can find any sign of the Master or even a clue as to where he's gone now. The Titans South people are at the movie theatre and among the first in Jump City to watch the newly released MCU movie, which the rest of us had definitely best get to watching ourselves at some point in the future."

"Noted," Raven said dryly.

"Titans East is chilling out at their personal apartment suite," Beast Boy continued, either having not noticed Raven's dry remark to his earlier comment or just ignoring it for the sake of making his overall point. "Herald's hanging out there with Titans East, and Jinx and Kid Flash said they'd be spending a while at Youngberg Café." He looked directly at Raven. "To put it simply, I don't really have very much to do that I can think of right now."

Raven thought to herself. "Well I'm sure there's something that you could be doing right now other than just sitting around here. . ."

"I didn't say that there was _nothing_ I could do that I could think of," said Beast Boy. "I said there wasn't very _much_ I could do that I could think of." He got up on his feet and turned around to face Raven completely. "That doesn't mean that I couldn't think of anything to do."

For a brief moment, Raven was confused. Then her purple eyes widened as she noticed the look that was now in Beast Boy's eyes. "Is he. . .?" she thought to herself.

"We never did get around to discussing about the little matter of my . . . status," said Beast Boy.

In that moment, Raven instantly knew exactly what Beast Boy was talking about. She nodded her head. "Indeed we did not."

Beast Boy nodded his head, took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Well," said the changeling. "Now's as good a time as any."

Raven thought to herself, and then nodded her head. "Best get it over with," she mentally decided. She looked up at Beast Boy.

The two chromatically challenged friends stared each other down for several minutes, each of them waiting for the other to speak first. Then Raven decided she'd waited long enough. "Well Beast Boy," she began. "I will admit, I'm not entirely certain what to say." She hung her head. "I'm sure this may not be too much of a surprise to you, but I apologize in advance in case this does cause offense, but five years ago, or potentially some point or other in between now and the Titans' first year of existence, I could very easily have been disgusted at the idea of something like . . . that . . . existing between us."

"No offense taken," Beast Boy managed to say, though with slight tightness in his voice.

"But with everything we've been through in all the time we've known each other since," Raven continued. She sighed. "I will admit, right now, I am actually somewhat flattered that you've turned out to be my secret admirer."

Beast Boy let a small smile come on his face. "That's reassuring to hear."

Raven nodded her head. "But even so," she said. "I honestly don't know how to approach this situation, especially after the full information got revealed to me in the way it did." She lifted her hands as it to forestall any potentially negative reaction from Beast Boy. "Don't get me wrong," said the sorceress. "Like I said, I am flattered that you may or may not feel that way towards me. But me? Honest to Azar, I don't know how I really feel towards you myself anymore, let alone if I like you that kind of way." She hung her head, sighing in an almost resigned fashion. "And I know that might sound hard to believe because I'm an empath. But I'm telling the truth. I honestly don't know what to say in regards to how you feel, or how I feel for you." She looked back up at Beast Boy. "And I'm sure you can understand how that feels right?"

Beast Boy thought to himself, and then nodded. "To tell you the truth," the changeling began. "Part of me is sort of relieved to know that you feel the way you currently feel regarding this situation."

Raven raised her eyebrow, partially in confusion and partially in shock. "Why?" she asked.

"Because to be honest," responded the changeling, "I still don't really know the exact nature of what it is I feel for you either." He nodded his head. "I used to think it was so simple to, the nature of our relationship, just like you did." He looked the sorceress back in the eyes. "But now, after everything that's happened, I'm not sure what to think, or how I feel." He rubbed the back of his head. "And really, I don't really have the experience I need to truly understand yet either. I never had anyone to teach me as to what love is, let alone the different types. I mean hey, you saw how long it took for me to realize that what I felt for Terra was actually more of a schoolyard crush then genuine romantic love." He nodded his head. "So yeah, I don't really know for certain how I feel for you any more than you know for certain how you feel for me."

Raven thought to herself. "Well," she said. "I guess, when you put it that way, it is kind of a relief to know that we're on the same boat."

Beast Boy nodded his head. "Indeed." The changeling thought to himself. "Are you able to easily identify an emotion in a specific way whenever you detect one from someone else with your empath mojo?"

"Yes," said Raven. "It's paradoxical really. Empaths like myself can so easily identify emotions when we detect them coming from others, yet sometimes have just as much difficulty as anyone else would in identifying them when we feel them ourselves. Honestly, it's like becoming so used to being aware of how to identify them coming from someone else that we get somewhat desensitized to the presence of those same emotions in us at varying extents."

Beast Boy thought to himself. "Ok," he said slowly, not entirely certain if he fully grasped what Raven was saying. "Would it be at all similar, perhaps, to what it's like to hear your own voice in a recording?"

Raven thought to herself, then found her eyes slowly widening as she realized the surprisingly valid similarities. "Actually," she admitted. "Yes, now that you mention it, it is somewhat like that, but in reverse."

"I see," said Beast Boy. "On that note, if you're willing, do you think maybe it would be ok for you to use your empath mojo on me and see if you can properly identify just how I feel in your regard?"

Raven gaped at Beast Boy as if he'd grown a second head. "I mean," said Beast Boy. "Like you said, you're able to easily identify many emotions, both common and otherwise, when detecting them coming from someone else. And, reasonably speaking, I'm almost certain that you've detected love and should be able to recognize it in that fashion as well."

Raven thought to herself. "That is true," she admitted. "Still, you've got such a large sea of emotions radiating from you now."

"I know," said Beast Boy. "But I'm sure that, if you focus hard enough, you could probably pinpoint one emotion or other out of them all and work on it further from there."

"Fair point," said Raven.

"And again," said Beast Boy. "I'm just offering a suggestion. If you don't want to, then you don't have to do this." He rubbed the back of his head. "But if you do, I'm willing to give it a shot, see if we can just get this all over with. And hey, maybe if you do go through with this and what I turn out to feel for you is that kind of thing, maybe it will even help you come to terms on your end of the issue."

Raven thought to herself, carefully considering what Beast Boy was suggesting. "Could it really be that easy?" she wondered. She looked over at Beast Boy, who was waiting patiently, then directed her head to the side as if thinking further. She had to admit, part of her actually did see the appeal in going through with the idea that the changeling had suggested. It would certainly get the entire business over with and out of the way.

She felt a small smile struggling to come onto her face as she continued to think the matter over. A good couple days ago, she had herself been feeling reasonably under the weather at the idea of being virtually the only single lady left amongst all the female Titans her age just as much as Beast Boy had felt about being one of the last remaining bachelors, and the only current one remaining out of the founding members. Also, and she could practically _feel_ the giggling coming from Happy and Love inside her as she reached this thought, despite their initial first impressions of each other and how very different they were, all that they'd gone through over the past 5 years, not to mention the last few days alone, now had her thinking that it wouldn't entirely be all that unappealing for her to consider a relationship of such a nature with her green friend. After all, she knew that he was far better than Adonis could ever hope to be, and that, unlike Malchior, he was already her friend and genuinely cared for her. Plus, her talks with the other girls earlier the previous week had allowed her to open her eyes to seeing how she and Beast Boy were capable of being far more compatible together then she'd ever thought before. "Who knows," she thought to herself. "Maybe I actually do love Beast Boy that way." She surreptitiously directed another glance at Beast Boy. "And if that's the case, then it would certainly be helpful to know whether Beast Boy actually feels that way as well."

At the same time, though, she also couldn't help but hesitate at the idea of checking to confirm this possibility just yet. As much as she wanted to desperately find out if Beast Boy in fact did love her the way he appeared willing to think he actually was, and perhaps, through that, whether she herself felt that way, she also couldn't help but almost fearfully wonder, "What if he doesn't?"

At any moment before the current one, Raven hardly would have cared about such matters. But now, after everything that had happened and what she was now thinking, she now couldn't help but feel the same almost instinctive worry that she had often found herself rolling her eyes at other girls for feeling, about the possibility of a guy she potentially liked romantically not returning those feelings. "Now I _know_ how Starfire felt all these years," she thought ruefully to herself. And unlike Starfire, this time she had it potentially even worse. For unlike Starfire, who had only ever truly loved Robin, she herself had once felt herself feeling what she herself could have sworn may have very likely been love one other time before now, and that had been with Malchior. And everyone on the Titans knew exactly how well _that_ had worked out. And that incident, combined with the vile crusade that Adonis had placed himself on for winning her over, had several times made her feel as if the only people who'd ever find any remote form of attraction for her would be bad and horrible people. And the fact that Beast Boy, a genuine nice guy who actually had far more in common with her then met the eye, had now gone to so much effort and was now very potentially feeling that kind of way for her himself, now also made her doubly terrified at how she'd react and feel if it turned out that even _he_ didn't truly love her that way. And at that thought, she could hear Rage chuckling and just barely detect an almost impossible to hear whimpering coming from Timid. She gulped, and just barely avoided hanging her head.

Eventually, Raven did hang her head, and she stepped back slightly. "No," she said, almost whimpering. "I'm sorry," she said. "I can't."

Beast Boy raised his eyebrow. "Can't?" he asked. "Or won't?"

Raven felt her heart sink. "Both," she whimpered.

There was a brief pause. "Care to elaborate?"

Raven took a deep breath, and then sighed. "Look," she said. "I know how potentially more awkward it could become if we let it stay bottled up instead of just getting the entire matter over with right here and now." She hung her head. "But I honestly don't know if I can handle getting a direct confirmation as to whether you feel that kind of love, if any, towards me at all just yet."

"Why?" Beast Boy asked, clearly far more curious then disappointed.

"Well," said Raven. "Look at everything that's happened. Azar, think about just how I ended up managing to figure out about you being my secret admirer. I mean think about it, I ended up finding out 2nd hand both that you were my secret admirer and that I'd accidentally caused you to think that I'd given my heart to another man on the very night that you'd planned to confess. After that, just getting together and starting a relationship like that, it would seem almost as if I'm only doing so out of pity for you. And that wouldn't be fair to either of us. You deserve better then that, we both do."

Beast Boy thought to himself, and then nodded. "Fair point." He looked back at Raven. "But that only explains why it might not be a good idea to just up and get together. Why do you think you wouldn't be able to handle using your empath mojo to directly identify what it is I feel for you?"

Raven took a deep breath, sighed, and then looked at Beast Boy, a mixture of guilt and almost apologetic sorrow now on her face. "Beast Boy," she began. "I had a horrible reminder of how unhealthily obsessed with me Adonis is just 2 days ago." She hung her head. "And three years ago, I felt what I am willing to believe was actual romantic love towards a boy who turned out to be a monster, both figuratively and literally, who never truly cared about me at all."

"Hey," said Beast Boy in a reassuring tone. "Just because you had those two bad experiences doesn't mean that the only guys to be either attracted to you or a subject of your own attraction will be bad guys."

"I know," said Raven. She looked up at the changeling. "But think about it. Out of all of us, but especially amongst the founding boys of this team, you're the nicest boy I've ever known." She placed her hands upon Beast Boy's shoulders. "I mean it Beast Boy, there's no boy I've ever known who could possibly be nicer than you. Even after all that I've put you through, or anything else negative that's happened to you, you've almost _never_ stopped being nice to me or likewise being an overall good person throughout it all. And I'm grateful for that, really I am." She hung her head, sighing once more. "But with that in mind, think about this from my perspective in the current context. You are the nicest guy I've ever known. And in my history, both the only guy that I know for sure I've felt romantic love for and one other guy who's actively pursued me have turned out to be horrible and file beings. And with all that in mind, just think of how devastating it would be for me if I were to dig into your emotions and find out that . . . that . . . not even . . . you . . . actually . . . liked . . . me . . . that . . . way . . ."

In that instant, Beast Boy finally understood fully just what Raven's dilemma was, and he impulsively gave her a hug. Raven tensed up in surprise, and then relaxed, letting her green friend hug her, even returning the gesture. "It's ok Raven," said Beast Boy. "I understand. And like I said, it was only a suggestion. You don't have to do it now, not if you really don't want to just yet."

Raven sniffled, and the chromatically challenged pair reluctantly broke their hug. Raven wiped the area under her right eye, and shook her head side to side. She sighed. "I'm sorry."

Beast Boy placed his hand on her left shoulder. "Don't worry," he said with a small understanding smile. "Like I said, it's fine. Believe me, if you need time to prepare and get over recent romantic trauma, you go ahead and take that time. Believe me, I'm willing to wait." The changeling nodded his head. "I mean, hey, considering how long I've been as stunted as I am in being able to properly identify and realize the exact nature of some of the more complicated and harder to interpret emotions, I could very well have been feeling whatever it is I feel towards you ever since the day we first met and not even known." He chuckled. "And if that's true, and I've waited _that_ long, then I can _definitely_ wait a little while or so longer."

Raven sniffled, and nodded her head. "If you say so."

"Glad to hear it," said Beast Boy. "One of these days, we'll definitely figure this whole thing out. But for now, I'm perfectly willing to let both of us take our time." He looked back over to the tower. "And on that note," he said before looking back at Raven. "Think it would be safe for us to check to see if Star's managed to work her magic on Robin?"

Raven thought to herself. "I suppose there won't be any harm in that."

"Indeed," said Beast Boy. He and Raven started walking slowly towards the Tower's front door together. "I will admit though, I certainly hope that Robin's calmed down by now, and especially before tomorrow."

"Why?" asked Raven.

"Well hey," said Beast Boy. "Everyone else is going back home tomorrow. And I personally would like it a lot if we all got the opportunity to hang out and have fun together tonight beforehand. And knowing Robin, I highly doubt such hopes would come to fruition if he were still in his current funk over the Master pulling another Houdini on us for the entire rest of today."

Raven thought to herself. "I suppose you're right," she admitted. She took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "I guess we'd best go see if Star's managed to do her work then." And with that decision made, the two chromatically challenged friends entered the Tower to check on their fearless leader and see if his ever so cheerful Tamaranean girlfriend had managed to successfully bring his inner happiness back out from yet another one of his dark and brooding moods.

. . . . .

That evening, as Todd made his way back to his makeshift 'home', he was most certainly not in the best of moods, and one needed only take the briefest look at his face to know. After his meeting with Raven, the goth boy had spent virtually the entire rest of the day searching high and low for the Master, trying as hard as he could to find the shadowy being so that he could confront the dark cloaked mystery figure on the news that he'd just learned from the teen sorceress. But of course, as had been the case for the Titans not too long ago, despite all his efforts, he had found neither hide nor hair of the mysterious figure. His efforts at contacting the Master electronically had, likewise, proved ineffective.

Now, Todd was practically steaming with rage from both having had no luck at all in finding the Master and having just that morning learned about a plan the Master had for him that the goth boy knew, for a _fact_ , had not at all been mentioned in their first discussion on the night they'd first met. "We never once said a thing about my potentially working for him," he angrily thought to himself. "That was _never_ part of the deal."

The goth boy finally reached his home, entered, and proceeded to make his way over to the actual living space area of the building so recklessly in his anger that it was a miracle he made it there alive, let alone without any injuries. He stormed into his living space, slammed the door shut, practically forced the lock into position, and practically punched in the activation necessary to turn on the security precautions. He turned away from the door and stormed over to his bedroom, still fuming with rage.

"If he thinks I'm going to just up and work for him without even telling me about his wanting me to do so, then he's got a whole 'nother thing coming for him," he thought to himself. "I ain't working with anyone anytime soon. No way. Not after how hard I've worked to get my stupid life back together after my time with the League of Shadows, not to mention the fact that I was freaking _resurrected_. Besides, I've already got enough crime-related stuff on my plate right now as it is." He glared down towards his shoes. "Sometimes it feels like I can never trust _anyone_ these days." With a growl, he practically kicked his shoes off his feet and sent them flying backward.

It wasn't until he heard the unexpected sound of shattering wood from behind him that Todd was jolted out of his angry mood. "What the?" he thought to himself, eyes wide from shock. He turned his head, and blanched at the sight that lay before him. On the wall that he'd knocked off his shoes towards, at the very area where the small barrier of wooden boards and planks had been located, was a gaping hole in the wall. And the fragments that remained were lying on the floor in front of it, with some of them lying directly underneath his cast-off shoes.

Heart in his mouth, Todd carefully made his way over to the now glaringly uncovered hole in the wall of his bedroom, taking great care not to step on any of the sharper or more potentially splinter causing fragments of wood. He reached the hole, gulped, and looked inside, leaning forward through the hole as far as he could. And sure enough, much to his horror, the small hidden area that the now shattered barrier had been hiding was empty.

Todd's heart plummeted with shock and horror. "No," he gasped. He gulped. "No, no, NO!" Of all the rotten luck, one of the absolute worst things that anybody could catch in his possession was gone. Somehow or other, despite everything being exactly as he was used to seeing it that morning, someone had managed to get into his home base and steal one of his most dangerous possessions.

Now even angrier then he'd been before, Todd clenched his right fist, lifted it up, and, with an inarticulate growl of rage, slammed it down on the floor of the now glaringly empty hidden 'vault'. "Jesus H. Christ!" he practically shrieked. "Where the Devil is it?"

"Looking for this?"

At the sound of the now very annoyingly familiar voice behind him, Todd scowled, his eyes narrowed, and turned his head to look behind him, glowering in a clearly annoyed manner at none other than the Master. And sure enough, dangling from the tip of the cloaked figure's left sleeve were the former contents of the empty hidden vault; the Red-X suit. "I should have guessed that you'd drop by sooner or later," Todd grumbled sarcastically.

"Indeed," the Master responded in a deadpan tone of voice, not at all missing a beat. He unceremoniously tossed the suit onto the goth boy's bed. "Sorry for stealing this. But I needed it present so I could know for sure exactly how to best provide you with the promised reward, and I wasn't entirely sure when you'd return and didn't want to waste any time in getting ahold of it considering how long you've been kept waiting."

"Thank you for your concern," the goth boy hissed in an almost spiteful tone. He pointed his finger accusingly at the cloaked figure. "But before you give me that reward, there's something else we need to talk about. You've got explaining to do."

The Master raised his eyebrow. "Those are some awfully bold words for you to say to me, boy."

"Yeah well, boohoo," said Todd. "Right now, I could care less about respect, especially now that I've learned that you were apparently viewing me as a potential recruit for your lame army just as much as you were hoping for that moron Anderson to join." The young boy clenched his fists. "Yeah that's right," he snarled. "I know about that little detail. Trying to hide it from me? Well guess what buddy, epic fail. I know all about that little plot now."

The Master, much to Todd's chagrin, seemed almost bored with the knowledge that had just been revealed. "So you do," he said nonchalantly.

"Is that seriously all you have to say?" Todd snarled. He leaned forward, jabbing his finger towards the cloaked figure once more. "I don't know about you, but I remember perfectly clearly that we _never_ once talked about the possibility of me working for you. And I sure as Hell never agreed to work with you as one of your dumb recruits."

"And yet, neither did you disagree."

"Well I can't really disagree _or_ agree on something that's never even discussed!" the goth boy yelled. "We had a deal! I help you out with your little scheme, and you give me a life supply of xenothium to power my suit with! Those were the terms! Fair and square! Only things we ever agreed to! Me working for you? That was _never_ on the table! That was not part of the deal at all!"

The Master raised his eyebrow again. "Just _this_ scheme?" he asked. "Clearly, your idea of what your part of the deal entailed was a world of difference away from mine."

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"As _I_ recall," said the Master. "What I said was that, in exchange for the xenothium, you were to help me out with whatever was necessary for you to help me out with until I was done with you. I never said anything about being done with you after just this one little scheme."

Todd growled, and clenched his fists. "Are you insane?!" he yelled. "That's cheating!"

"Cheating?" the Master asked. "Hardly. You're the one who wasn't specific enough in his wording. You didn't want to work for me? You should have been clearer on that."

"It was implied!"

"Oh please," said the Master. "Implications are such senseless drivel. Hate to break it to you, boy, but in business, you need to follow the Horton the Elephant route. You need to mean what you say and say what you mean. No more, no less."

Todd growled and snarled, keeping his fists clenched, too angry to even coherently speak anymore. After what seemed like an eternity, the goth boy managed to take a deep breath, close his eyes, and exhale. "Fine, I made a mistake," said Todd. "I'll admit to that." He opened his eyes and looked towards the master. "And if this means I have to work for you, even though I didn't even want to work for anyone, let alone you, in the first place, then so be it. Only right that I pay for my mistake that way considering that's what I've dug myself into."

"That's the spirit," said the Master.

"But first," said the goth boy, raising up his finger as if to both make a point and to signal for no interruptions or arguments. "There are two requests I'd like to make."

The Master raised his eyebrow, and then thought to himself. "Hmm, requests huh?" Then he nodded. "Well that's better than making demands, that's for sure." He looked directly at the goth boy once more. "Very well, I'll allow you your two requests. Whether or not I grant them will be another matter entirely."

"Understood," said the goth boy, mentally celebrating at having managed to regain at least a small ounce of control for the situation. "First request, before we leave and I officially actually begin my time in your service, I want us to talk and properly discuss exactly what's to be expected of me for the job. As you've managed to make quite clear, I agreed to work with you without even realizing it, and with no idea as to the exact nature of what would be entailed. And that's hardly fair, now is it?"

"A fair point," the Master conceded. He nodded his head. "Consider your wish granted. I shall allow us to have a proper discussion as to the exact nature of your job."

"Splendid," said the goth boy. "Next request." He held out his hand. "As both a reward for finishing what I initially believed to be my only task for you and as compensation, I'd like you to still give me the xenothium you promised."

There was a long pause. For the briefest of moments, Todd felt himself start to worry that he'd perhaps gone a little too far in his efforts at the current plan he had up his sleeve. Then the Master nodded his head. "Very well." The Master reached into a pocket within his robes and drew out what looked like a metallic sphere that seemed to glow with an eerie red light. "Here you are," said the Master.

Todd raised his eyes, clearly confused. "What the heck is that?"

"I'm surprised you don't already know," said the Master. "Considering how strongly you depend on the availability of xenothium for your activities within that special play time outfit of yours, I presumed you'd be at the top of the game in regards to any related news. But then again, this device was only successfully developed and made available two weeks ago." Todd narrowed his eyes.

"But nevertheless, I shall explain to you what this is." The Master lifted the sphere so as to allow the goth boy a practically guaranteed chance of getting a good look at it. "Within this device," the Master explained, "is a solidified cluster of xenothium."

"How's one little chunk of xenothium supposed to . . ."

"Do not interrupt," said the Master. "As I was about to say, also integrated within this sphere's mechanics, is technology designed for a mixture of suspended animation and radiation amplification." He extended his arm that was holding the sphere towards Todd. "With that combination of technology, and the xenothium core, this device is capable of serving as an unlimited source of xenothium radiation."

Todd was briefly lost for words. "So, in other words," he began.

"A life supply of xenothium," the Master confirmed. He nodded his head. "Exactly as promised."

Todd thought to himself, and then smiled. "Well in that case," said the goth boy as he gently accepted the sphere and took it out of the Master's hand, "thank you." He stood still, cradling the sphere in his hands and thinking to himself. "What do I do with it exactly?" he asked.

The Master hovered his right arm over the Red X suit and tapped the tip of his right sleeve against the small area on its belt that had a circle with a red x emblazoned on it, the circular area opened, revealing an empty compartment just big enough to hold the sphere. "Just place the device inside the xenothium core on your belt, and the device will do its work from there."

Todd nodded. "I see." He walked over to the bed, leaned over the Red X suit, device in hand. It took all his willpower not to grin ecstatically or likewise give away his current glee. "Things are working out perfectly," he thought to himself. "All I have to do now is just place this in and allow its radiation to spread throughout the suit, and I should be able to buy myself just enough time to escape." He placed the sphere into the empty core, carefully pressing on it to make sure it slipped in all the way. No sooner had the spherical device made its way entirely into the core, when the core closed, and the belt started to glow as the all-important radiation spread through it, powering up the suit for the first time in months. After what felt like an eternity to the increasingly excited goth boy, the glow faded away, signaling that the charging had finished. He fondled the belt. "Finally," he thought to himself.

"And now it's time we got down to business." Immediately after the Master said this, he drew out a strange cylindrical stick-shaped device with a bright red button on the top from seemingly out of nowhere and pressed down on the button before Todd even had a chance to react.

All of a sudden, Todd screamed in agony and collapsed to the floor, convulsing and howling as he suddenly found his vision become clouded with bright orange light with red spots. After what seemed like an eternity, the bright light faded away from his vision, and with it the agonizing pain that he'd felt while it was present. Panting and gasping, Todd eventually managed to get back up on his feet. "What the Devil did you just do!?"

The Master chuckled, his red eyes agleam with clear smug satisfaction and triumph. "Come now," said the Master. "Did you really think I wouldn't be expecting you to attempt to double cross me in some way?" He chuckled, shaking his hooded head side to side. "Well I was. And I set up the perfect insurance strategy." He lifted up the device that had triggered the agonizing pain and bright light in Todd. "I'm sure you're aware of that one local criminal who calls himself Slade."

Todd growled. "Hard not to be around here."

"No harm in checking," said the Master. "Well one thing I'm sure you're not necessarily aware of is how, five years ago, during the Titans' first year of existence in fact, he was quite keen on making the Titans' leader his own personal apprentice."

"What's that have to do with. . .?"

The Master lifted the device threateningly, the tip of his sleeve hovering over the red trigger button, and Todd stopped talking. "As I was saying," said the Master, "Slade hoped to have Robin, your predecessor from life under the wing of the man who raised you, his apprentice. Of course, he knew that he'd never willingly work for him anymore then you're willing to work for me. And so, to grant himself leverage over the Boy Wonder, he had the other four founding Titans infected with a series of ingenious nanoscopic probes designed to attach to their blood cells and, when activated, release a powerful blood poison that would gradually, yet painfully, obstruct the flow of blood to their hearts. Thus, the only way for Robin to prevent his friends from dying in agony while leaving him no other choice but to watch helplessly was to agree to work with Slade as his apprentice."

The Master nodded his head, his eyes seemingly closed in approval. "Admittedly, the four infected Titans managed to become aware of the blackmail and your predecessor eventually managed to find a way to use Slade's own leverage against him. But nonetheless, it was effective while it lasted." He looked straight at Todd, his red eyes open and narrowed ominously. "And as you've just experienced the hard way," said the cloaked figure, "it has inspired me to pull a very similar trick."

Todd's eyes widened as he realized just what the Master had done. "What?" he said. "You mean?"

"Oh yes," said the Master. "Right this very moment, you have a swarm of very similar nanoscopic probes inside you attached to your own blood cells."

"But . . . how?"

"Simple." The Master folded his arms across his chest. "Remember that immunization shot I gave you to allow you to spend as much time in the presence of the xenothium and its radiation as you would be able to with a life supply without running the risk of adverse health effects? Well suffice it to say, an immunization wasn't the only thing in that injection." He lowered his arms, the trigger device still gripped in his otherwise entirely concealed right hand. "The probes were inside the injection as well, and now they're inside your body."

He dangled his sleeve over the trigger button once more. "And as you can see, all I need to do is press this button, and you fall victim to the same obstructive form of blood poisoning." His eyes changed again as if indicating a grin on the Master's face. "And even better," the Master continued. "Unlike the batch that Slade used, this form of the poison is stronger, more potent, and much faster acting. The poison that Slade put in his batch of probes was designed to allow the victims to last at least 15 minutes, an hour at most if they were lucky, to live before their blood flow became obstructed enough to finally kill them. With this poison, however, the victim has five minutes' maximum to live before the poison spreads throughout the entire interior of its body, goes straight to the heart, and kills it." He lowered the trigger device. "You're lucky that I deactivated the probes inside you when I did," the Master continued. "Just one more second longer, and you'd have been beyond hope of saving."

For a brief moment, Todd was stunned speechless. Then his shock turned to rage, and he clenched his fists. "You can't do this!" he shouted. "This is blackmail!"

"How's that supposed to stop me?"

"You won't get away with this!" the goth boy growled, tensing himself up as if about to either lunge at the Master or snatch up a device from the Red X suit. "I'll . . ."

The Master lifted the trigger device into view once more, the tip of his sleeve hovering over the ominous red button, and the goth boy promptly stopped talking once more, his eyes widened in fear once more. The Master noticed the obvious abrupt silence and look of fear on the boy's face. "Are you really sure you're willing to take that risk?"

For what seemed like an eternity, Todd found himself in a desperate mental struggle, trying as hard as he possibly could to think of something he could do to get out of the current situation he was in or likewise turn things back around in his favor. "I can't let him make me go through with this," he thought to himself. "I can't!" And yet, what else could he do? He'd already seen how very inhumanly fast the cloaked figure had managed to trigger the probes and incapacitate him before he'd even had a chance to react. He looked up towards the Master, both physically and mentally grimacing. He didn't want to work for the mysterious shadowy cloaked figure. But at the same time, he didn't want to die. And he knew that there was very little he could do at the current moment, or very likely any other moment that would allow him to really do all that much against the Master before the figure either triggered the probes or likewise incapacitated him with something else.

Todd hung his head, his shoulders slumped, all the fight draining him from him in seconds. He had no other options, nothing he could do, no other choice. "What do I have to do?"

The Master chuckling, grinning triumphantly under his cowl. "Well for starters," he indicated the Red X suit. "Get changed. I want you dressed for work."

The goth boy looked over at the suit, then at the Master, and then hung his head. "Yes sir," he said in an almost lifeless tone of voice. He picked up the suit, walked over into his closet, and slipped himself into the familiar costume. He walked out of the closet, dressed entirely in the Red X suit, from the shoes, all the way to the mask. "Now what?" he asked.

The Master slipped the trigger device back into his pocket and summoned a shadow portal. "Now, you're coming with me. We've got a lot to do, and it's best we get started on it now." The Master walked over to the costumed goth boy, placing the tip of his right sleeve on the boy's shoulder. "Your days of alternating between lying low and raising Hell for your own personal amusement are over. Starting today, whether you like it or not, you're working for me." He removed his hand from the goth boy's shoulder and walked back up to the shadowy vortex. "From now on, the boy you've allowed yourself to become underneath the mask shall no longer exist; Todd Jameson is dead. The mask, and only the mask, is your one true and only identity." He came to a stop and turned his cowled head to face his new unwilling underling, his red eyes half agleam and half narrowed. "Starting now, for the rest of your life, you shall be known only as Red X. And its high time you returned to the world of darkness and villainy where you belong." He leaned his head forward ominously. "And this time, by his Malevolence, you are going to stay."

 **The End**

 **And just like that, Shadows of Love is over. Just like with the other stories, I feel quite glad to have gotten this story completed, I hope you all enjoyed it, and I thank you full heartedly for all your support. Here's me hoping that you enjoyed, read, and leave plenty of feedback. And please feel free to leave as detailed or as simple a review as you wish (and comment on whatever element of this chapter, or story period now that you've reached the end, that you desire). That being said, I hope you are all somewhat ok with what I've chosen to happen in regards to BBRae for now. I know some of you might get a little annoyed and impatient with me for dragging this out. However, as you can see clearly on my profile, I have plans for how this element unfolds, and I need them to stay romantically unlinked with each other until the events of Beauty and the Beast Boy (which will come further down the line in the future). Also, feel free to comment on how I've resolved Raven's little loose end with 'Todd', and what ended up happening to 'Todd' at the end of the epilogue. All that in mind, once again, I hope you all enjoyed this story. Also, as of now, I shall be going on a small (at least it's intended to be somewhat small) hiatus from Teen Titans so as to cook up a project or two from the Glee fandom so as to satisfy my fans there that I've probably kept waiting long enough. However, once I've reached a point I deem sufficient for me to return to the Teen Titans fanfiction community, I will come ROARING back. And by the time I've reached that point, I require for there to be a minimum of** ** _one_** **review for this epilogue in order to post the prologue for episode 6.04 of Teen Titans (and, by extension, the DCTTAU). Again, hope you all enjoyed! I hope I've left you all with plenty of reason to want more, and that you wait patiently for me over the course of my hiatus. And once again, thank you.**

 **Next up on Teen Titans Season 6 (following the hiatus that is): Blackfire is back in action, and she's up to no good . . . with a vengeance. And she is more than willing to risk causing galaxy-wide warfare amongst various alien races just to spite her younger sister. However, the Titans find themselves fully aware of this only after a visit from an important person from Starfire's life on Tamaran reveals how Blackfire is hard at work in forming an alliance with an alien race so horrific that they make some of the worst alien races already known look like angels. And soon after the epic adventure that follows begins, the Titans, and with them the Tamaraneans, soon find themselves with only one choice of action that could allow them even the slightest hope of stopping Blackfire and preventing entire galaxies from falling to the terrible villainy of the rogue Tamaranean's sinister new allies. But as strongly as their chances of saving the universe now lie on this option, it is far from savory. The option in question? An alliance with the Gordanians, a race long viewed by the Tamaraneans as their sworn enemies, very dangerous personal old enemies of the Titans themselves, and apparently an unexpected mutual enemy of Blackfire and her new allies as well. With the fate of potentially the entire universe at stake, and countless innocent Tamaraneans and other noble alien races, will the Titans and the Gordanians be able to work together sufficiently enough to allow them to defeat their dangerous common enemy? Or will the entire galaxy be doomed to fall alongside them over the course of their continued bitter enmity? Find out next time, on Teen Titans . . . Season 6.**


End file.
